Tangerang – Youths chased and forcibly dispersed labor activists grouped in the National Front of the Indonesian Labor Struggle (FNPBI) during a protest outside Tangerang's Women Penitentiary here on Sunday.
Beginning at 10am, some 50 FNPBI protesters demanded the release of jailed labor activist Dita Indah Sari. The protest initially preceded peacefully, observed by police officers and soldiers.
The group began to hold a free-speech forum several minutes later, but it was disrupted by the arrival of several busloads of people identifying themselves from the Tangerang Youths Forum (FPT).
"The group forced us to disperse our peaceful rally," Iqbal of FNPBI told The Jakarta Post. He said the youths unfurled banners and repeatedly chanted "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is great) as they beat the protesters, most of whom were women.
The protesters attempted to flee the scene to avoid an escalation of trouble. Iqbal said the youths chased the demonstrators.
The security personnel, who were apparently caught unaware by the arrival of the youths, attempted to intervene. It instructed both groups to immediately leave the site.
"We earlier thought the two groups were going to hold a joint rally. But when they started to shout at each other, we had to come in and disperse them to prevent further clashes," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said. No injuries were reported and police said no arrests were made during the incident.
Iqbal said Dita was chosen chairwoman of the newly founded forum during a national labor gathering in Bandung, West Java, last month. The protesters, he said, wanted to deliver the "good news" to Dita and visit her after the rally.
The group also demanded the government end the dual function of the Indonesian Military (TNI). "If the government has the guts, it should release Dita and also revoke the TNI's dual function," Iqbal said.
Dita, 25, chairwoman of the Center for Indonesian Workers Struggle, is serving the second year of a five-year sentence. She was charged by then president Soeharto's government under the 1963 Subversion Law. Prosecutors alleged she was guilty of subversion by attempting to overthrow the government with activities in Jakarta, Surabaya and other cities. The subversion law has long been criticized as a tool to suppress opposition.
The organization was recognized to be under the umbrella of the Democratic People's Party (PRD). Along with other PRD activists, Dita was arrested in July 1997 after organizing two labor rallies, each involving about 10,000 people from 10 factories at the Tandes industrial estate in southern Surabaya.
The rallies, which called for minimum wages in Surabaya to be raised from Rp 5,200 to Rp 7,000, ended violently when the military intervened. Dita was transferred to the capital shortly after sentencing.