Chris McCall, Banda Aceh – The controversial trial of Aceh's top civilian independence activist is expected to start in the course of a new one-month truce with separatist rebels, his colleagues say.
Dossiers against Muhammad Nazar, co-ordinator of the student-led lobby group Sira, were handed over to state prosecutors this week. Nazar, 27, has been moved from police custody to Banda Aceh's Keudah prison. In the Indonesian legal system, the moves are normal preliminaries to a court appearance.
Nazar was charged with subversion after a banner calling for Indonesian troops to leave the province was put up in Bandah Aceh on August 16, a day before Indonesia's 55th independence day. He was arrested after questioning by police in November and has been in detention for nearly two months.
"According to information from the prosecutors, the trial will be held as soon as possible. There must be a certainty. He cannot be detained for a year," said Sira presidium member Ridwan. The trial was likely to take place "this month, maybe next week", Mr Ridwan said.
On Wednesday, Indonesian representatives signed a one-month "moratorium on violence" with the Free Aceh rebels, who are fighting for an independent state in the oil-rich northern province. Police had threatened a massive crackdown if the earlier truce was not renewed in some form.
The new truce is due to run from Monday until February 15, but has already been widely criticised for being equally as flawed as the "humanitarian pause" it replaces. Police reported that on Thursday alone there were five attacks, three ambushes, two shootings, two bomb discoveries and one massive police swoop on a rebel position.
A Free Aceh commander said rebels wounded dozens of military and police in an attack on a security post on Thursday night. But police denied the attack took place.
Unlike the rebels, Sira espouses non-violence. It has campaigned for a peaceful referendum on independence and called for disarmament on both sides. However, it has turned into a mass movement capable of mobilising hundreds of thousands of Acehnese and is seen by Jakarta as a major threat to its hold on the Sumatran province.
Nazar's case is particularly controversial as it is based on three sections in the Indonesian criminal code widely used by former president Suharto to jail his political opponents. Until Nazar was arrested, the sections in question had not been invoked since Suharto's fall in May 1998. Nazar's supporters say he is a political prisoner.
A further nine Sira members, including its chief spokesman, Faisal Ridha, have also been sent summonses for questioning as witnesses in the case, which they have ignored on the grounds they are legally flawed. Since those summonses were sent nearly two months ago, they have received no further summons.
"It is political. They are all from the [group's] presidium. There are indications that those that are called are going to be declared suspects," said Mr Ridwan.