Tri Agus gets two years for insulting leader

Tri Agus gets two years for insulting leader

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court yesterday
sentenced Tri Agus S. Siswowihardjo, an activist of human rights
group Pijar Foundation, to two years imprisonment for insulting
President Soeharto.

Presiding judge Leo Hutagalung said in his verdict that Tri
Agus was found guilty of insulting the President through Kabar
dari Pijar (News from Pijar) bulletin.

Tri Agus, as editor of the bulletin, ran a series of protests
and meetings after the government banned three weeklies Tempo,
DeTik, and Editor, Hutagalung said.

Tri Agus wrote an article in the June 1994 edition of the
bulletin, which was deemed insulting to the President, he said.

The judge said that as the editor of the Kabar dari Pijar, Tri
Agus should take responsibility for the bulletin's content.
"Therefore, I decide to sentence Tri Agus to two years in jail,"
he said, pointing out that the defendant violated Article 134 of
the Criminal Code.

Hutagalung said that he based his sentencing on two
aggravating factors: First, the defendant showed no regret for
his crime, and second he had been rude towards the authorities
and the prosecution during the trial.

The maximum sentence for someone found guilty of violating the
article is six years imprisonment.

State prosecutor Baginda Lumban Gaol previously demanded that
the judge sentence Tri Agus to four years in jail, saying that
what he had done could weaken the public's trust in the
government.

Responding to the judge's decision, Tri Agus' lawyer, Trimedya
Panjaitan, said he would appeal the sentence and claimed that
some of the evidence had been manipulated by the prosecution.

Trimedya has denounced the criminal code under which Tri Agus
was tried as a leftover of Dutch colonial rule which has lost its
formal legal grounds.

"I will fight for my rights and justice," Tri Agus insisted.

Yesterday's trial was attended by more than 100 activists and
students and was tightly guarded by police officers. At least 40
policemen kept watch over the site.

After the court session ended, the officials asked the
visitors to leave the court house, saying that the crowd could
disturb public order.

Lt. Col. Murawi Effendi confirmed that a visitor had been
taken into custody for questioning. The person was suspected of
distributing leaflets of the Pijar Foundation which protested the
sentencing of Tri Agus, he said.

Tri Agus was the third Indonesian journalist to be jailed this
month. Ahmad Taufik and Eko Maryadi, two journalists from the
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), were sentenced to 32
months each in jail earlier this month. (29)