Two more subversion convicts released
JAKARTA (JP): Two men who were convicted of subversion five years ago for distributing the books of Pramoedya Ananta Toer walked out of a Yogyakarta jail on Saturday, courtesy of the Central Java Military Command.
Bambang Isti Nugroho and Bambang Subono, both 32 years old, were granted conditional releases by the Wirogunan Correctional Institution although they have not yet fully served their jail terms.
The "Two Bambangs" as they are often referred to by fellow activists, were sentenced by the Yogyakarta District Court in 1989 to seven years and six months and seven years respectively.
They were found guilty of spreading Communism and Marxism and for distributing the books of Pramoedya, Indonesia's most renowned writer, whose works are mostly banned in the country on charges that they have a Marxist flavor.
Head of the Yogyakarta Justice Office Soedjarno Sih said both men fulfilled the criteria for conditional release, the Antara news agency reported.
Their release came at the recommendation of the Diponegoro Military Command and occurred one month after a fellow activist, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, was given similar treatment at the recommendation of the Jakarta Military Command.
Nugroho was an employee of the laboratory section at the Yogyakarta-based University of Gadjah Mada, while Subono was a student of the university.
Bonar, also a Gadjah Mada student, was convicted in the same year for organizing a series of political meetings which the authorities considered subversive.
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Defense of Human Rights (LPHAM) and the Pijar Foundation, a student organization for human rights campaign, praised the release of the two men, saying that democracy is slowly becoming a reality.
Statement
In a joint statement, the two groups said there was no reason at all for the two men to spend time behind bars, because they were only exercising their constitutional rights.
"Now that our democracy is getting better, we believe that there should be no more arrests or punishment for people simply for holding different views," the statement said.
Meanwhile, it was reported that 21 students who were sentenced to six months imprisonment by a Jakarta court last month for defaming President Soeharto have dropped their plans to appeal.
Their lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan said that the decision should not be taken to mean that they have accepted the guilty verdict but more as a statement that they mistrust the court's fairness in dealing with their case, according to the Kompas daily.
The students in any case will be released on June 15.
They were arrested on Dec. 14 during a demonstration at the House of Representatives (DPR) demanding that the People's Consultative Assembly summon President Soeharto to account for a number of violent incidents that have occurred in the country in recent years. (par)