Two on trial for stamping on Megawati's image

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two demonstrators went on trial Wednesday for allegedly insulting the president and vice president by stepping on their pictures during a rally in front of the State Palace on June 24.

Many demonstrators were convicted for similar offenses during the New Order regime, but it was the first time under the administration of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice president Hamzah Haz that demonstrators have been prosecuted for engaging in acts of defilement of the president's image.

Currently, several other demonstrators in Aceh and Medan are being questioned by the police for painting an 'X' on photos of Megawati and Hamzah last week, according to Hendardi of the Indonesia Legal Aid and Human Right Association (PBHI).

Chief prosecutor Luhut Sianturi charged the defendants Muzakkir, alias Aceh, and Nanang Mamija, alias Junet, with a violation of Article 134 of the Criminal Code on premeditated insults of the president or vice president, which carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

Muzakkir and Nanang, who have been in police custody since June 30 and July 1 respectively, looked confident as they were accompanied by their friends and lawyers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute.

According to the indictment, the defendants along with 20 other demonstrators from the Populist Youth Movement (GPK) and the National Farmers Federation (STN) held a peaceful rally demanding the dismissal of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz.

Muzakkir, a 21-year-old an unemployed man, wore no shirt during the rally with a message on his chest, which read "Mega, Hamzah Haz Step Down".

Nanang, a 20-year-old vendor at Ciledug market in Tangerang, also wore no shirt to reveal his back which read, "The Land Belongs to Farmers" presumably a demand for land reform.

The groups demanded the dismissal of Megawati and Hamzah due to their disappointment over their policies which did not favor farmers and common people. They accused the government of favoring only the wealthy people.

Each of them carried a chair, with posters of Mega and Hamzah on them that were crossed out with a red marker.

They later smashed the chairs on the ground. Nanang and Muzakkir then took the bold step of stomping on the posters, according to the prosecutors.

Both defendants, along with two other demonstrators who are currently at large, allegedly poured rotten food on the already damaged pictures of Megawati and Hamzah, shortly before the rally ended peacefully.

"Witnessed by other demonstrators and passersby, the defendants committed the crime, which insulted the president and the vice president," Luhut told the Central Jakarta District Court.

Presiding judge Sirande Palayukan adjourned the hearing until next week to hear the defense's opening statement.

Separately, Hendardi said that the ruling government must no longer charge demonstrators with insulting the government, president or vice president because "those articles should be obsolete in the post-Soeharto era."

"The past government (Soeharto's New Order regime) used that article many times, but that law has no place in the reform era," he said.

Several experts have accused the Megawati government of reverting back to the methods the New Order used, particularly to repress anti-government expression.

"The government must not be so concerned about how a demonstration is held, instead, they must focus on the substance of the protest. The ability to understand and respond to criticism could lead to a democratic government," Hendardi asserted.