Three labor activists charged with subversion
Three labor activists charged with subversion
SURABAYA (JP): Hundreds of police officers guarded the
Surabaya district court building, and 16 truckloads of soldiers
were stationed nearby, as one of the biggest political trials
ever to come to the city began yesterday.
Two men and a woman -- all activists who organized a series of
labor strikes and protests -- were arraigned in the court
yesterday, charged with subversion, an offense punishable with
death.
Dita Indah Sari, 23, and Coen Husein Pontoh, 26, are being
tried in the same hearing while M. Soleh, 21, is being tried
separately. Dita heads the Center for Indonesian Workers
Struggle, Coen is coordinator of the National Farmers Association
and Soleh is an executive of the Indonesian Students Solidarity
for Democracy.
All three organizations, according to the prosecutors, are
under the umbrella of the Democratic People's Party (PRD), whose
leaders are being tried on subversion charges in Jakarta.
The three defendants are charged with attempting to subvert
the state and topple the legally elected government through their
activities in Jakarta, Surabaya and other cities throughout the
country.
In the course of their activities, they sought to repeal five
political laws and the 1963 anti-Subversion Law with which they
are now being charged, according to the prosecutors.
"They undermined the Pancasila and the state to achieve the
political goals of the PRD," according to the dossier read in
court yesterday.
The three also face lesser charges, like sowing enmity and
hatred against the government.
They were arrested early in July after organizing two major
workers' protests, each one involving some 10,000 people from 10
factories at the Tandes industrial estate in the southern suburb
of Surabaya.
The protests, in which they demanded the minimum wage of
workers in Surabaya be raised to Rp 7,000 from Rp 5,200, ended
violently when the military met strong resistance when they tried
to disperse the crowd. There were no deaths, but some of the
protesters, including Dita and Coen, were injured.
The three defendants have retained Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, a
leading human rights lawyer, along with a host of other lawyers,
to represent them in court. (25/emb)