Jakarta – The head of the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) department of education and propaganda, I Gusti Agung Anom Astika, was sentenced to four years minus the time he had already spent in jail. Meanwhile the head of the Center for Labour Struggle (PPBI) department of education and propaganda/international relations, Wilson bin Nurtiyas, was sentence to five years jail by the South Jakarta state court on Monday, June 16.

Presided over by IBN Somya, the sentence handed down against Anom was five years lighter than that demanded by the public prosecutor, Jawadin Saragih, who had asked for 9 years. While the court presided over by Arbani Suprapto, which handed down the sentence against Wilson, was four years lighter than that demanded by the public prosecutor Dedi Pridasa, who had asked for 11 years. With these sentences, all of the PRD activists have now been sentenced by courts in South Jakarta, Central Jakarta and Surabaya [East Java].

The substitute prosecutor in Anom's case, TM Siahaan and the substitute prosecutor in Wilson's case, Soeprapto, said they would appeal the decision. "We fell that there is a need to appeal because the sentences handed down by the courts are far to light being less than half of that which we had asked for. We are optimistic that the appeal will be granted by the High Court", said Siahaan.

Meanwhile Anom said he would appeal for a longer sentence because of his faithfulness in carrying out the orders of PRD chair, Budiman Sujatmiko. "I present this appeal on the instructions of the party chairperson", he said before the court.

Meanwhile, Wilson said: "Five, ten or even twenty years, it's all the same to me. This trial and the government are unjust. There is no point in thinking about the freedom of expression as guaranteed in article 28 of the 1945 Constitution, that is what was tried" he said.

The presiding judge said that Anom and Wilson were both proven to have carried out acts of subversion.

When met separately after the trial, both Somya and Suprapto emphasised that the sentence handed down against the two was based on a call from their conscience. "The sentence we handed down is final and in this we saw there was a development in the attitude of the accused. And both of them are still young" said Somya.

Suprapto added that his [the sentence he passed] sentence which was far less than demanded by the prosecution was because the saw Wilson's actions as being mixed up. "Actually, Wilson is a good kid. This was proven by the prestige of his studies at university. Because he got no political training in the world of study, he looked beyond the environment of his studies and came across the activities of the PRD. We took that into consideration", said Arbani.

Sentences handed down against PRD activists:

1. Budiman Sudjatmiko (Chairperson, PRD) - 15 years/13 years
2. Garda Sembiring (Chairperson, SMID Jabotabek) - 13 years/12 years
3. Ign Damianus Pranowo (Secretary General, PPBI) - 10 years/9 years
4. Jakobus Eko Kurniawan (Chairperson) - 9 years/8 years
5. Suroso (Secretary, SMID Jabotabek) - 8 years/7 years
6. Petrus Hari Hariyanto (Secretary General, PRD) - 12 years/6 years
7. Ken Budha Kusumandaru (SMID Jabotabek) - 6 years/4 years
8. Victor da Costa (SMID Jabotabek) - 3 years/1.5 years
9. Ign Putut Arintoko (SMID Jabotabek) - 3 years/1.5 years
10. I Gusti Agung Anom Astika (Dept. Ed & Prop., PRD) - 9 years/4 years
11. Wilson bin Nurtiyas (Dept. Ed & Prop./Intl. Rel., PPBI) - 11 years/5 years
12. Dita Indah Sari (Chairperson, PPBI) - 8 years/6 years
13. Coen Husein Pontoh (Chairperson STN) - 6 years/4 years
14. Sholeh (SMID Surabaya) - 5 years/4 years

Source: Kompas information centre

Translators notes:

1. SMID: Solidaritas Mahasiswa Indonesia untuk Demokrasi, Student Solidarity for Indonesian Democracy
2. STN: Serikat Tani Nasional, National Peasants Union
3. Jabotabek: Jakarta-Bogor-Tengerang-Bekasi, Industrials zone in West Jakarta

[Translated by James Balowski]