Wed, 14 Jun 1995

Soebandrio's wife still waits for answer to prayer

JAKARTA (JP): Sri Kusdyantinah has been praying for the release of her husband Soebandrio, the deputy prime minister during president Soekarno's time, who is serving life imprisonment for his role in the abortive communist coup attempt in 1965.

Now there is a glimmer of hope that her prayer would be answered.

The government has indicated that, in connection with Indonesia's 50th independence anniversary this year, it is planning to give special remissions for prisoners.

Those serving life term, like Soebandrio, by law do not qualify for remissions, but Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman has nevertheless encouraged them to apply for "special" clemency from President Soeharto to have their sentences commuted, even though they may have applied for one, and granted one, previously.

Kusdyantinah, in an interview with The Jakarta Post confirmed that her husband has formally applied for clemency. If granted, his sentence would likely be commuted to 20 years, and given that Soebandrio has already served for nearly 30 years, this could mean he would be freed on or by Independence Day on Aug. 17.

Soebandrio was originally given the death sentence but it was commuted to life after he applied for clemency.

Everything now depends on President Soeharto, who has the constitutional prerogative, but news that Soebandrio, along with two other top political prisoners implicated for the 1965 coup, have applied for "special" clemency has sparked a debate on whether or not the head of state should grant their requests.

Most politicians believe that given the gravity of their action, these political prisoners should spend the rest of their lives behind bar. Human rights campaigners however say these political prisoners had already more than paid their debts to society. Besides, they are harmless because they are already in their 70s and 80s. Soebandrio himself is 81.

"I can only pray to God for the release of my husband," Kusdyantinah said in the interview conducted at her Menteng home.

She said her husband promised her more than once that he would take her on a haj pilgrimage to Mecca if he is released. She said she had always wanted to go on the pilgrimage and to pray before the tomb of Prophet Muhammad. She has postponed the trip because she did not have the financial means.

Kusdyantinah said she believed she has once experienced Lailatul Kadar, a spiritual experience that one goes during prayer in the middle of the holy month of Ramadhan.

The term itself apply to the night in which the Holy Koran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

"I know it was Lailatul Kadar, because the signals matched the descriptions given by Prophet Muhammad," she said, adding on that night the moon and the stars shone brightly and there was no cloud and no wind.

Kusdyantinah said she and her three grown up children visit Soebandrio at the Cipinang correctional institution in East Jakarta twice a week.

Another promise he has always made to her is that he would support her financially, she said. She did not say how he planned to make a living and support the family.

Soebandrio has never been the breadwinner for Kusdyantinah and her family. They were married in 1980 when he was already serving time in Cipinang.

Was it a marriage of convenience? Not exactly.

The two went way back together to their childhood days and were in fact distant relatives. "Pak Soebandrio's father was a district chief, and my father was his assistant," she said.

Kusdyantinah and Soebandrio became closer in 1974, after her first husband died. By then, Soebandrio was also a widower and his only son from the first marriage had already died in 1971.

The two met once a year as Soebandrio was allowed to celebrate Idul Fitri outside. They were married on Idul Fitri day in 1980. She was then in her early 40s.

What did she see in him exactly that drew her to him?

Kusdyantinah said Soebandrio helped her go through the difficult period after the death of her first husband, and taught her to persevere and to get on with life.

"Pak Soebandrio went through far worst experiences than me, but he remained so firm and patient," she said. "It was not easy for a woman in her early 40s to adapt to a new husband, compared to girls in her 20s," she said.

She said she has been living on her own since the marriage.

She has been teaching foreign languages, translating foreign books, and accepts lodgers in the house to earn her living.

She has been lecturing English at the Universitas Nasional in South Jakarta since 1980. She is also a director at Akademi Bahasa Indonesia, a foreign language school in Jakarta, where she teaches Korean language.

She said she used to join several charitable organizations but has now stopped because of her tight schedule in teaching English and translating foreign books on philosophy and fiction.

"I have translated five masterpieces of Khalil Gibran, The Prophet, The Prophet's Park, The Sand and Foam, The Poet's Voice, and The Song of Waves.

She also translated four books of Alvin Toffler: The Future Shock, The Review and Premises, The Third Wave, and The Adaptive Corporation. "I am now in the middle of translating Alvin Toffler's War and Anti-War."

Being married to a notorious political prisoner has been difficult for her, but even more so for her three children, the oldest is now 43 years old, the second 41 and the youngest 24.

She said her children had difficulties at schools and in the neighborhood when people learned that their mother was married to Soebandrio.

Like her, they are managing their lives as best as they could.

"Thank God, I got the teaching job at the university and my names are imprinted in the books I translate, all without having to conceal my identity," she said.