Two more labor activists arrested in Bandung

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Heavily-armed police in the West Java capital of Bandung have arrested two more labor activists in apparent attempts to suppress the labor movement in the province.

So far, a total of 34 labor activists have been arrested in line with mounting opposition to two labor bills currently being deliberated by the House of Representatives.

Oman and Sayutin, employees of PT Matahari in the Cimahi industrial zone, were arrested for allegedly leading around two hundreds workers during a strike to protest against the labor bills and the violence used against workers in the province.

Witnesses said five car-loads of police, brandishing machine guns, disbursed the 200 laborers as they gathered outside PT Matahari's warehouse compound in Cibaligo, Cimahi, eight kilometers south of the city, early Tuesday morning.

The chairman of the West Java chapter of the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (FNPBI), Ety Rostiawati, said on Monday that police had arrested 32 workers for allegedly inciting the workers to confront security officers.

The arrests occurred when thousands of workers from a number of industrial areas in the city marched through the city to demand the provincial legislative council lobby the House of Representatives to reject the bills which were considered to protect business interests.

Later on Tuesday, led by activists of the FNPBI and the Democratic People's Party (PRD), dozens of workers held a rally to condemn the local councillors for their lack of response in helping the arrested workers.

They said the arrest of their friends was part of the government's policy to stop the protests against the bills. They further said that police had no evidence against the arrested workers.

Meanwhile, Adj. Comr. A. Rusman, chief of the city's detectives unit, denied his members had arrested Oman and Sayutin, saying that police had simply arrested a man who was distributing hundreds of pamphlets encouraging workers to stage a rally.

"But I forget his name," Rusman said, adding that police were still investigating the "unknown worker".

In response to the laborer's demands, many factories in West Java were currently being guarded by police personnel, Lucky said.

"Maybe they (the police) are afraid that our demonstration may turn ugly like last June. No matter what the reason is, it should not be an excuse for them to overreact."

As of Wednesday, none of the labor activists had been released.