Prosecutor demands 11-year sentence for PRD activist

JAKARTA (JP): An eleven-year jail term was sought yesterday for Democratic People's Party (PRD) activist, Wilson bin Nurtiyas, who is accused of undermining the state ideology Pancasila.

State prosecutor Dedi Pridasa told the South Jakarta District Court yesterday Wilson had been proven guilty of breaching the 1963 Subversion Law through his involvement in the party which adopted "social democratic populism ideology" rather than state ideology Pancasila.

Dedi said that Wilson, chief of the education, information and international relations department of the Indonesian Center for Labor Movement, a PRD affiliate, had undermined the state ideology through his activities in the organizations between 1994 and 1996.

The prosecutor said the defendant had incited workers to protest by distributing leaflets, including some demanding that the daily minimum wage be raised to Rp 7,000 (US$2.84), to revoke the Armed Forces' sociopolitical role and the political laws.

The prosecutor said Wilson was guilty of taking part in seminars on East Timor abroad, of releasing statements which opposed integration of the territory into Indonesia and of holding a commemoration at University of Indonesia for the Nov. 12, 1991, Santa Cruz incident in Dili, East Timor.

Wilson was also guilty of attending in July 1996 the PRD's establishment in Jakarta, which was marked by a declaration of its political agenda. The organization had also issued awards for antigovernment figures, including writer Pramudya Ananta Toer, Xanana Gusmao, Thomas Wanggai and Sri Bintang Pamungkas, the prosecutor said.

On Monday, the prosecution sought a nine-year prison sentence for another PRD member, I Gusti Agung Anom Astika, for the same charge.

Other PRD activists were sentenced in April to between 18 months and 13 years in jail.

When he was about to read the indictment, Dedi asked Wilson to stand up and then said: "The prosecution does not wish for revenge against the defendant, but to educate not only the defendant but also the public."

After the indictment was read, Wilson embraced his weeping mother and lead her out of the courtroom.

The trial will resume next Wednesday. (05)