Students, unemployed fined for staging rally

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday sentenced 108 people -- among them students, laid-off workers and street musicians -- to pay fines of Rp 2,500 (35 U.S. cents) each for illegally holding a rally outside the office of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

The judges passed sentence in the absence of the defendants, who refused to enter the courtroom.

Their rally on Tuesday in front of the office on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Central Jakarta, was judged illegal because the protesters did not provide prior notification to the police.

During the rally the protesters, grouped in the Student and People Action Committee for Democracy (Komrad), deplored the June 7 general election, deriding it as the "controversial and coerced polls".

The group demanded KPU not count votes for the Golkar Party, claiming the ruling party was guilty of vote-rigging. They did not provide physical evidence of the alleged rigging.

They also refused to accept results of the elections, which they said was not "fair".

Arriving in four police trucks at the court at about 1 p.m., the defendants refused to enter the courtroom to face the panel of four judges -- Rusdi As'ad, Sri Purwanti, Purwanto and Endang Sumarsih.

The defendants sang songs and held a free speech forum in front of the courtroom before leaving.

"We do not believe in this court. The law was created by the old regime to stop demonstrations," one of the protesters said.

Dozens of police officers deployed at the court looked on but did not try to stop the defendants from leaving the court.

Judge Rusdi As'ad said the defendants were guilty conducting rally without police notification as required by the law.

Rusdi said the protesters were guilty for violating Article 10 of Law Number 9/1998 on delivering opinion at public places and Article 510 of the Criminal Code. (jun)