Prosecutors seek four years for labor activist Pakpahan
Prosecutors seek four years for labor activist Pakpahan
MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Prosecutors demanded yesterday that
labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan be sentenced to four years in
prison for inciting a violent labor demonstration which left one
businessman dead in April.
They said Pakpahan, leader of the Jakarta-based independent
Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), helped planned workers'
rallies to press demands for better wages.
He was also accused of organizing the illegal training of
worker activists in the town of Pematang Siantar near Medan, for
which each participant was given Rp 30,000 (US$13) for
"transportation expenses".
The demonstrations, which degenerated into riots targeting
ethnic Chinese businessmen, lasted several days, spreading to
nearby towns where thousands of workers vandalized cars and
factories before security forces brought them under control.
The state prosecutors said in yesterday's court session that
during 1993 and from January through April 1994 the defendant had
carried out a series of activities in preparation for labor
demonstrations both in Medan and Pematang Siantar, a town 130
kilometers south of the provincial capital.
"Mochtar Pakpahan even organized a training program for
workers in Pematang Siantar and every participant was given Rp
30,000 to cover transportation," the prosecutor told the panel of
judges presided over by V.D. Napitupulu.
Funds
The prosecutor said that the defendant also sent Rp 600,000
monthly to the local chapter of SBSI to fund its activities.
"The defendant also organized a series of clandestine meetings
in preparation for the bloody riots. In these meetings the
defendant incited workers to continue demanding the improvement
of their welfare. He blamed the poor labor situation on alleged
collusion between employers and the Armed Forces," he said.
The trial will resume on Nov. 2, 1994, to hear the defendant's
plea.
In the previous session, the team of defense lawyers led by
Adnan Buyung Nasution, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Foundation (YLBHI), walked out the courtroom in protest over the
court's objection to the presence of two experts in law slated to
give testimony for the defendant.
Others
Several other officials of SBSI's local chapter in Medan have
already been tried and found guilty of taking part in the riots.
They are currently serving their prison terms.
The court last week sentenced the secretary of the local
branch of SBSI, Hayati, to seven months in prison after the judge
found her guilty of inciting violence.
The council of judges said that Hayati, 21, organized a series
of meetings with labor activists to plan street demonstrations.
ICFTU envoy
In a related development, Abdur Rachman, an envoy of the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), has
arrived here to attend and observe Muchtar's trial.
ICFTU, International Amnesty and many other international non-
governmental organizations have asked the government several
times to intervene in the court process to free Muchtar from the
charges. (rms)