Dozens of Bali environmental activists Friday stood in front of the Bali Provincial Prosecutor's Office and Denpasar District Court on Jl. Sudirman, protesting the detention of two members from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in Manado, North Sulawesi.

"The prosecutor's office and the district court are two legal institutions that must uphold justice. Therefore we are rallying here to demand a fair trial for our friends.

"We will keep on staging demonstrations to protest against violence aimed at activists, until they (Manado Police) free our friends," said chief of Walhi's Bali chapter Agung Wardhana.

The Bali activists held their first protest in front of Bali Police headquarters Tuesday. The previous day, Manado Police arrested Walhi's national executive director Berry N. Forqan and water and food campaign manager Erwin Usman, after they staged a rally on the sidelines of the World Ocean Conference (WOC). The Manado Police dispersed the rally, organized by the Justice, Fishery an Mari time Forum (FKKP), on the grounds they had no permit to stage the protest.

Agung further said Indonesia might be subject once again to repressive legal institutions, despite its blooming democracy.

"Should the police or personnel upholding the law continue to take a harsh stance toward activists, students and journalists critical of the system, our democracy will regress," he added.

At Friday's rally that started at Udayana University, the activists also sang songs about fighting injustice toward activists, laborers and women while on their 200-meters march toward the speakers' corner.

The activists condemned all repressive approaches crushing the voice of the people and alleged the WOC was just another setup to exploit Indonesia's rich natural resources. Denpasar District Court deputy head Jumain said the court would not make respond further to the rally, as the demonstrators did not make such a request. - JP/Niken Prathivi