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)