Budiman Sujatmiko likely to be freed soon
By Max Lane
The Indonesian People's Representative Council (DPR) is likely to recommend the release of at least 44 political prisoners, including People's Democratic Party (PRD) chairperson Budiman Sujatmiko and six other PRD prisoners. The 37 other prisoners are East Timorese and Islamic fundamentalist activists.
President Abdurrahman Wahid announced soon after his election that he wanted all political prisoners released.
A decision of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) adopted in August required that pardons and amnesties recommended by the president be approved by the DPR. A special commission of the DPR has been discussing the issue.
The deliberations have been delayed by administrative incompetence, some prisoners' names being left off lists as a result of ignorance. PRD secretary-general Petrus Haryanto, for example, was originally not on a list of 80 people sent by the president's office to the DPR. No West Papuan activists were included on the list at first.
There also appears to be disagreement among DPR members over the fate of former members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Some PKI members have been in provincial jails since 1965.
A.M. Fatwa, a leader of the conservative Islamic wing of the National Mandate Party, has stated his opposition to the release of any PKI prisoners. He justifies this by reference to the 1967 act of the MPR banning Marxism, Leninism and communism. This ban, which has still not been annulled, gives the government the power to suppress any political activity by Marxists.
Julius Usman, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and a former student activist jailed by Suharto in 1974, has argued for a general amnesty that would release all political prisoners. The DPR is likely to make its recommendation soon.