Unrecognized union gathering dispersed
JAKARTA (JP): Police broke up a year-end party organized by an unrecognized labor union and arrested six people, a union official said here yesterday.
About 100 people, including members of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), workers and street singers, gathered at the union's headquarters in South Jakarta Saturday to celebrate the New Year.
But the party was quickly broken up by police and troops.
Six people were detained overnight at the South Jakarta police precinct.
When contacted by The Jakarta Post, police refused to comment on the arrests.
"Police arrested six union members, but we were released this afternoon at 3 p.m.," Santoso, one of those detained, told the Post yesterday.
He said police confiscated musical instruments, ransacked the headquarters, and took away chairs and the guests' handbags.
"Police returned the musical instruments, but they kept the union's archives, posters, banners and Muchtar Pakpahan's music records," Santoso said. He claimed that hundreds of thousands of rupiah from one of the handbags was lost.
Santoso said he had been told the gathering was broken up because there was no permit to hold it.
"We are planning to go the National Commission on Human Rights to protest this," he added.
Saturday's celebrations were comprised mainly of musical and theatrical performances.
In September, police dispersed SBSI's second congress and eight members and four foreigners -- two Dutch journalists and two representatives of an Australian trade union -- were taken away by police for questioning.
The first SBSI congress was held in 1993 to establish the union.
SBSI leader Muchtar Pakpahan is currently being tried for subversion.
He is charged with allegedly making a series of antigovernment speeches which the prosecution claims sowed public hatred and undermined the government's authority.
Pakpahan is already serving a four year jail term having been found guilty of inciting a labor riot in Medan, North Sumatra, in 1994.
The government does not recognize the SBSI and maintains that there is only one sanctioned labor association, the All- Indonesian Workers Union. (10)