Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Three Indonesian students will be charged with subversion after police allegedly found "communist material" in their apartment, in the latest round of charges against political activists.
Jakarta police chief Major-General Hamami Nata alleged the three also belonged to the student wing of the outlawed People's Democracy Party whose leaders have been jailed for up to 13 years.
"They are activists of a banned organisation and they are liable to prosecution. They will be charged with subversion," said General Nata. Subversion carries the death penalty.
The three men have been identified only as MY, 25, AR, 24 and NP, 28. Military officers arrested the trio in their east Jakarta flat on Friday.
They were originally arrested in connection with a bomb plot, but that charge has been dropped.
General Nata claimed the three students were linked with other students arrested in January for making bombs.
Police claim they found books containing articles on communism and documents on the small left-wing pro-democracy group.
"The suspects sought to garner mass support to subvert the Government," General Nata said.
Authorities raise the spectre of communism at times of political unrest or economic trouble.
The Government blamed a coup attempt in 1965 on the Indonesian Communist Party. President Suharto banned the party in 1966.
Authorities cracked down on activists at the time of the presidential elections last month with a large number of arrests and detentions.
Eight lawyers, actresses and activists are still being interrogated after police arrested them at a People's Congress in North Jakarta last week. Two have been charged with holding a political meeting without a police permit.
Meanwhile, in a fresh round of student protests, 25 students were hurt when they clashed with police in the Central Java town of Solo on Tuesday, the Kompas daily reported.
Hundreds of students at the March 11 University tried to move their anti-government demonstration off the campus.
Riot police responded by firing tear-gas to push the crowd back on to university grounds.
Solo police chief Colonel Riswahyono said students "provoked" his troops by throwing stones.