Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – In yet another attempt to suppress criticism of the long-running Suharto regime, an Indonesian court here sentenced a legislator who is a close aide to opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri to nine months in jail Monday for defaming the nation's six-term President.

Foreign diplomats and political observers said they believe that Aberson Marle Sihaloho is the first sitting member of the Indonesian parliament to have been sentenced to a prison term since the modern history of Indonesia began after it won independence in 1945.

"It's a setback. During the rule of President Sukarno, not even a single sitting legislator was prosecuted, but a cabinet minister was jailed because of corruption," Sihaloho told the American Reporter, a reference to the late former President Sukarno, the predecessor of President Suharto, who respected the immunity of parliamentarians but would not tolerate corrupt officials.

Surveys of business leaders have identified Indinesia as one of the world's most corrupt countries for the past several years.

Observers say the sentence against Sihaloho, whose smile cheered friends in the courtroom after they heard the verdict, was aimed at weakening the Megawati camp. Sihaloho is among a few prominent economists on her camp.

Chief judge Suhardjo told the Central Jakarta district court that Sihaloho had been found guilty of deliberately defaming President Suharto when delivering a public speech last year in front of the headquarters of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

He said that parliamentary immunity for statements did not apply to Sihaloho because he was not in the parliament building and did not "act like" a member of the parliament.

The prosecution had asked for an 18-month prison term for Sihaloho, who was also found guilty of defaming the military and the parliament. The legislator is widely known as an outspoken critic of the Indonesian military's "dual function" doctrine, which authorizes the military's involvement in politics.

Several foreign diplomats and scores of prominent dissidents like former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin, intellectual Marsillam Simanjuntak, paranormal Permadi Satrio Wiwoho and film director Sophan Sophiaan, as well as opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri – who was ousted as head of her party by a military sponsored "rump" convention last June – also attended the trial's final session.

More than one hundred Megawati loyalists jeered the judges when they were reading the verdict. The police also deployed a water canon, several military trucks and dozens of anti-riot police to prevent unrest, but there was no trouble.

The prosecution accused Sihaloho of telling a crowd of several hundred, "Throughout the 30 years of Suharto's leadership, our freedom has been stolen and we are being colonized once again."

Sihaloho, however, denied the charges, "My duty is to uphold the constitution. I have the right to speak everywhere. As a legislator I could not do [all] my work only inside the parliament building. I'm really disappointed that a House member is being prosecuted like this."

The lawmaker said that under the Indonesian constitution, legislators have the right to criticize and express opinions different from the president's and those of state institutions. His lawyers immediately launched an appeal.

A former Indonesian legislator, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, was sentenced last February to a 34-month jail term for defaming Suharto in a seminar for Indonesian students in Germany in April 1995. He had been expelled from his minority United Development Party in 1995 and as a result had lost his seat in parliament.