Two NGO gatherings busted

Two NGO gatherings busted

JAKARTA (JP): Police broke up gatherings organized by the
Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) and the Pijar foundation
yesterday.

Dozens of police officers stormed the union's headquarters on
Jl. Kayu Ramin and the foundation's office on Jl. Penggalang,
both in East Jakarta, asking participants at the meetings to
leave.

"It's clear that you're not allowed to attend an illegal
meeting," Sgt. Johni Dimagah shouted at the workers in front of
their headquarters.

SBSI chairman Muchtar Pakpahan did not attend the aborted
ceremony, "We heard that the authorities want to harass him in
front of his supporters. So we told Muchtar not to come," said
Tohap Simanungkalit, a labor activist.

In a bid to avoid commotion, labor leaders urged the around
two hundreds guests to take their refreshments and go home.

An hour earlier a dozen officers raided the office of Pijar,
located about one kilometer southwest of the union's headquarters
and asked George Junus Aditjondro to stop delivering his speech.

Aditjondro is a noted scholar at the Salatiga-based Satya
Wacana Christian University in Central Java. He has recently
claimed in research that the number of people killed in the 1991
Dili incident was 271 and not 50 as stated by the government.

According to the head of Matraman police sub-precinct, whose
territory includes both offices, the organizers lacked permission
to conduct such big gatherings.

"Both of them had no permission to organize a meeting with
more than five participants," Maj. Rusmana Supiyana told newsmen
at his office.

Pijar held the meeting yesterday to celebrate the release of
an East Timorese student activist, Virgilio da Silva Guterres,
who was arrested a week after the bloody incident in Dili and
jailed for two and a half years in Cipinang prison for insulting
the government.

Guterres was cynical about the dismissal. "This is the
grandeur of the nation," he said sneeringly while watching the
local activists argue with the officers.

Earlier he thanked participants of the meeting for their
coming and their continual visits while he was jailed in
Cipinang.

"Two or three years ago, I considered all Indonesians my
enemies. However, the prison taught me to respect nice people
like you," Guterres said. (09)