Protesting women freed conditionally

Protesting women freed conditionally

JAKARTA (JP): The three women arrested here Monday on charges
of organizing a demonstration without a permit were released
yesterday but police said they had not closed the case.

Karlina Leksono, Gadis Arivia, and Wilasih Noviana, were freed
almost 24 hours after being arrested. They said the police had
told them they might be summoned again for more questioning.

Their lawyers, Apong Herlina and Azas Tigor Nainggolan, said
their clients were released at midday.

Separately deputy chief of the Jakarta City Police detectives,
Lt. Col. Bakat Purwanto, said the legal process would continue.

Karlina, Indonesia's first woman astronomer, a researcher at
the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology and
the leader of Monday's protest at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout,
said the police only asked them to sign their arrest warrants
yesterday.

"We were told that the interrogation was sufficient for the
moment, but they said it was possible they would question us
again later," Karlina said.

The three women, together with more than a dozen housewives,
staged a peaceful protest demanding the government do more to
lower prices of basic commodities.

Their lawyers said the three were charged under Article 510 of
the Criminal Code which bans demonstrations without a police
permit. It carries a maximum penalty of two weeks imprisonment or
a fine of up to Rp 2,250 (25 U.S. cents).

The arrests were denounced by activists from Women's
Solidarity, playwright Ratna Sarumpaet and Emmy Hafild of the
Indonesian Forum for Environment.

They met with Deputy Chairman of the National Commission on
Human Rights Marzuki Darusman, and commission member Clementino
dos Reis Amaral.

"The arrests and interrogation of three activists of the Voice
of Concerned Mothers was a violation of the 1945 Constitution's
Article 28 on freedom of expression and against the 1948 United
Nations Declaration of Human Rights," they said in a statement.

In a media conference given at the office of the Indonesian
Legal Aid Foundation, Karlina expressed her outrage at the
arrests.

"I was able cope with it calmly until they (the interrogators)
dug deeper to find out if we had political motives behind the
peaceful protest," she said. "At this point I broke down and
cried."

Wilasih said she was on a bus when she saw the protest at the
Hotel Indonesia roundabout and decided to join the rally
featuring prayers and songs.

"I am not a mother, but my neighbors have babies who cry for
milk. When I saw the protest, I just clicked in, and thought to
myself why be afraid to voice my conscience now," she said.

"Babies' cries cannot be stopped with government calls for us
to voice our concerns after the (People's Consultative Assembly)
General Session, we should voice our concerns now," she said.

Gadis stressed the importance of continuing to voice concern
over increasing prices, hoping that the Monday protest would "not
become the first and the last".

"There's no need to be afraid to take to the streets as long
as you are sure that your cause is right," Gadis, a mother of a
three-year-old daughter and a nine-month-old baby boy, said.
(aan/cst)