Protest made on Soeharto charges

Protest made on Soeharto charges

JAKARTA: The Coalition of Nongovernmental Organizations (Ornop) for Democracy demonstrated at the House of Representatives on Monday to oppose the government's plan to drop graft charges against former president Soeharto.

Among the demonstrators, who carried banners and posters, were political scientists Arbi Sanit and Fajrul Rahman and human rights lawyer Johnson Panjaitan, as well as artist Rieke Dyah Pitaloka.

Johnson, who read out a statement by the Coalition, said the plan to drop charges against Soeharto was against a decree by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on tackling corruption.

The protest came as the House reopened discussions on Monday after a three-week recess. --JP