Jakarta – Prosecutors Thursday ordered the temporary release of five political activists facing subversion charges for alleged separatism in Irian Jaya province, lawyers said Thursday.

The move comes a day after Amnesty International condemned Jakarta for jailing dozens of "prisoners of conscience" in an attempt to stamp out separatist movements in several provinces.

Lawyer Anum Siregar said the five, all senior members of the Papuan Presidium Council, were freed Thursday to allow for the preparation of their trial, expected early next month.

The president of the council, Theys H. Eluay, has been in a Jakarta hospital since January undergoing treatment for cardiovascular problems.

The men were arrested ahead of a December 1 pro-independence rally in the provincial capital, Jayapura. They are charged with subversion, a crime which carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence in Indonesia.

Siregar said her clients were still determined to fight for an independence state on the western half of New Guinea island. "For them the important thing is their trial," she said. "They want to prove their innocence."

Rebels in the region, also known as West Papua, have been fighting for independence since Indonesia occupied the former Dutch colony in 1963. The separatists claim widespread popular support among native Papuans, who resent the wealth of immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.