Students tried for illegal rally

Students tried for illegal rally

JAKARTA: Government critics turned up at the Central Jakarta
District Court in a show of support for three student activists
who went on trial Monday for holding an illegal rally in January.

Prosecutor M. Manik told the court that defendants Rico
Marbun, Fathul Nugroho and Ardi Purnawan Sani had violated Law
No. 9/1998 on freedom of expression as they failed to inform the
police before holding the rally near the official residence of
President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Jl. Teuku Umar, Central
Jakarta.

The prosecutor also said the defendants had resisted orders by
the police to disperse.

The minor crime carries a sentence of four months and two
weeks in jail.

Government critics Rizal Ramli and Fuad Bawazier -- both
former cabinet ministers -- and chairman of the Indonesian
Democratic Union Party (PUDI) Sri Bintang Pamungkas joined some
100 students from the University of Indonesia (UI) in boosting
the defendants' morale.

Rico chairs the UI Student Executive Body (BEM), a student
group which has often held rallies against Megawati.

Last year, two activists were convicted for stepping on the
photographs of President Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz
during a rally in Jakarta. A student activist in Aceh was also
convicted for painting an "X" on the photographs of the two
leaders early this year. -- JP