RI activists not to be prosecuted, envoy says

JAKARTA (JP): The three Indonesians currently detained by Myanmar for allegedly distributing antigovernment leaflets will not be prosecuted, Indonesia's Ambassador in Yangon Poerwanto Lenggono said yesterday.

"I guarantee they will not be charged," he told The Jakarta Post by phone from Myanmar's capital.

However, Poerwanto said it was still unknown when the activists -- R. Fadjri, Sulaiman Haikal and Christian Evert -- would be released.

He said Myanmar police were "already through" interrogating the activists, but the "overall" interrogation was still continuing as some of the 15 others who were detained with them had been "uncooperative".

Poerwanto refused to elaborate further.

On Sunday, 18 foreign activists were arrested by local police for distributing in several tourists spots in Myanmar printed materials with messages urging the remembrance of the Aug. 6, 1988 bloody incident.

"They (Indonesian activists) admitted that they were just following along to Myanmar, to participate in the goodwill message program." he said of the activists' testimonies.

The activists, according to Poerwanto, also admitted they were afraid when first detained by the police, but were now in good spirits.

Fadjri, a correspondent of The Jakarta Post and D&R magazine in Yogyakarta, together with Sulaiman and Christian of the PIJAR non-governmental organization, were in Myanmar on the invitation of the Bangkok-based Altsean-Burma, a group concerned with promoting democracy in the military-ruled Myanmar.

In order to make it easier for the activists to contact their families and relatives in Indonesia, Poerwanto said he had lent the activists his mobile phone.

He had also called all the activists' families to ensure them that they were being well taken care of by the embassy. "I have promised them that I will protect them," Poerwanto said. (aan)