Students adopt political prisoner

Issue 

By Sarah Peart

Andi Arief was kidnapped by the Indonesian military from his brother's house in Lampung, Sumatra on March 28. For four weeks he was "disappeared".

The military emphatically denied having detained him, despite eyewitness reports to the contrary. For four weeks, Arief's family and friends did not know if he was alive or dead. On April 17, it was officially acknowledged that Arief was in military custody in Jakarta.

Arief is the chairperson of Students in Solidarity for Democracy in Indonesia, a student organisation campaigning for democracy in Indonesia. He has been involved in organising forums and demonstrations for democracy. He has been on the run since a major military crackdown in July 1996.

In Australia, student organisations are actively campaigning for the release of political prisoners in Indonesia. Several student councils have adopted Arief as an honorary member. These include Southern Cross University in Lismore, the University of Canberra and the student guilds at Murdoch University and Curtin University in WA.

Nick Soudakoff, education vice-president at the University of Canberra and a member of the socialist youth organisation Resistance, told Green Left Weekly: "We have a duty to stand by our fellow student activists in Indonesia as they struggle for democracy in their country, and offer them our utmost support."

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