The nine PRD activists who were found guilty and sentenced last week on charges of subversion have filed appeals against the verdict with the appeal court.

Secretary of the Team to Defend Justice, Dwiyanto Prihartono, the Team which had handled the PRD defence, said they had filed their appeals through the prison authorities, an avenue that is open to defendants who have no lawyers [As will be recalled, the PRD activists dismissed their lawyers in the concluding stages of their trials, to indicate their rejection of the court process.

In a written statement signed by PRD chairpperson Budiman Sudjatmiko and secretary Petrus Hariyanto, they said that this appeal was being filed to demonstrate their total rejection of the verdicts passed in court. 'We will use all avenues to demonstrate this,' they said.