PRD prisoners on hunger strike

Wednesday, April 14, 1999 - 10:00


PRD prisoners on hunger strike


People's Democratic Party (PRD) chairperson Budiman Sujatmiko and other
PRD prisoners Anom Astika and Petrus Haryanto have been on hunger strike
since April 6. The hunger strike coincides with nationally coordinated
protest actions initiated by the PAD or PAD-related groups.

Reports from the prison on the evening of April 10 say that some of
the hunger strikers are starting to fall ill. The governor of the prison
has reportedly stated that they will not be given any medical assistance.

They issued a statement stating that they were carrying out the hunger
strike to draw attention to the undemocratic aspects of the coming elections.
They stated that genuinely free and fair elections would be possible only
if the military were removed completely from politics and there was an
end to so-called “money politics”, that is, the use of massive funds by
the pro-government and other conservative parties for vote buying and other
forms of electoral manipulation.

From GLW issue 356