Students in defamation trial cite constitutional rights

Students in defamation trial cite constitutional rights

JAKARTA (JP): Four students who are being accused of defaming
President Soeharto during a demonstration last December told the
court on Saturday that at the time they were simply exercising
their constitutional rights.

The students also denied that their chants and posters
amounted to a defamation of the head of state.

"We went to the House of Representatives (DPR) to ask the
legislators if they truly represented the people who voted for
them. We were asking them to fulfill the promises they made
before they were elected," said Adi Kurniawan during a cross
examination at the Jakarta District Court.

Kurniawan is one of the four defendants in the trial. The
other three are Hendrik Dikson Sirait, Yeni Rosa Damayanti, and
Masduki.

They were arrested along with 17 others during a demonstration
at the DPR on Dec. 14 demanding that the People's Consultative
Assembly convene an emergency session to ask Soeharto to account
for some of the violent incidents that occurred in the country in
recent years. The other 17 students are also on trial in two
separate trials.

The government prosecutors said the poems, posters and the
chants insulted the good name of the President. The maximum
penalty for defaming the head of state is six years imprisonment.

The four defendants on Saturday said it was within their
constitutional rights to air their opinions, specially at the DPR
which was supposed to embody the people's sovereignty.

Kurniawan said the poems that were read by the students were
not the same ones that were presented by the police officers who
had earlier testified for prosecutors. "The poems presented by
the prosecutors were fabricated," he said.

To convince the panel of judges, Yeni read one of the poems
before the court, the work of W.S. Rendra, entitled Pertemuan
Mahasiswa (Students' Gathering).

The students also used the opportunity on Saturday to complain
about the police brutality when they were arrested and during the
subsequent interrogations.

"It's sad that the House, which is supposed to be a safe haven
for the people, was turned into a battle arena when the security
officers barged in to arrest us," Yeni said. (01)