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)