Union activist faces jail term

MEDAN, North Sumatra: A government prosecutor is demanding the district court to sentence the secretary of the local branch of the All Indonesian Prosperity Labor Union (SBSI) to a year imprisonment for allegedly instigating a violent labor demonstration in April.

Prosecutor Khadiroen said on Tuesday that 22 year-old Yanti organized a series of meetings between workers and SBSI leaders to plan the demonstrations to press their demands for pay hikes, the Antara news agency reported.

The protests turned into a full scale riot, with one businessman mobbed to death and dozens of factories ransacked.

The hearing was adjourned to Sept. 27. (pan)