Trial of students begins over plot for Islamic state
Trial of students begins over plot for Islamic state
JAKARTA (JP): The trial began yesterday of two university
students charged with involvement in a plot to turn Indonesia
into an Islamic state.
Prosecutor D. Siswadi told the South Jakarta District Court
that, in pursuing their cause, Junaedi Prakoso and Ronny Dwi
Argaputera had "publicly expressed hostility, hatred, and insults
towards the Indonesian government".
Under the Criminal Code, the offense carries a maximum prison
sentence of seven years and/or a fine of Rp 4,500 (US$1.50).
Siswadi said that, after being sworn as members of a movement
aiming to establish the Indonesian Islamic State (NII), Junaedi
and Ronny had helped recruit new members.
Fajri, Rembun Wuri Widodo and Lukman Hakim, all witnesses in
the case, were among those allegedly recruited by the defendants.
The movement aimed to introduce Islamic law and abolish the
Pancasila, Siswadi said.
Lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid and the Human Rights
Association, who are representing the accused, said the case was
political and that their clients had not been involved in any
crimes.
The defense lawyers were opposed to the use of the Criminal
Code articles concerning "sowing hatred" and "sowing enmity"
against the government.
Meanwhile, in a different room of the court building, a
prosecutor rebutted the defense statement of a Democratic
People's Party (PRD) activist, Wilson bin Nurtiyas.
Prosecutor Soeprapto told the South Jakarta District Court
that the defense statement was judicially unacceptable.
The statement only made his involvement in the party and its
affiliate, the Center of Labor Movement and the Indonesian
Solidarity Movement for Maubere -- which supports a referendum in
East Timor -- more obvious, he said.
"Based on that, we are determined to continue with our
indictment," he said. The prosecutor's counterplea was handed
down after Wilson read his defense statement.
Last week, the prosecutor requested the court to sentence
Wilson to eleven years in jail.
Wilson was the labor movement's chief of education,
information and international relations and the Maubere
movement's coordinator. He was charged with undermining the state
ideology Pancasila through his activities in the organizations
between 1994 and 1996.
The same indictment was handed down to other party activists
who were sentenced in April to up to 13 years imprisonment.
Wilson and fellow activist, I Gusti Agung Anom Astika, are the
latest PRD activists to go on trial. (05/40)