(WiPC/IFEX) – According to information released by WiPC on 22 April 1998, actress and playwright Ratna Sarumpaet was arrested on 10 March 1998. She continues to be held in police custody in Jakarta and will be tried on charges of “unacceptable political activity” and “the expression of feelings of hostility . . . towards the […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – According to information released by WiPC on 22 April 1998,
actress and playwright Ratna Sarumpaet was arrested on 10 March 1998. She
continues to be held in police custody in Jakarta and will be tried on
charges of “unacceptable political activity” and “the expression of feelings
of hostility . . . towards the government.” If convicted she could face a
prison sentence of up to 12 years.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 13 and 11 March 1998**
Ratna Sarumpaet is the Coordinator of Solidarity for Amien Rais and Megawati
(SIAGA) and a prominent pro-democracy proponent. She is an actress, a
television and stage director, as well as a playwright. One of her plays,
“Marsinah’s Song from Beneath the Earth” – about a woman worker who was
killed – has been banned from performance and
publication in Indonesia.
She was arrested on 10 March 1998 at the Horison Hotel in north Jakarta,
where she had called a meeting to discuss the consequences of the country’s
economic crisis. The local chief of police broke the meeting up and arrested
her as well as eight others in attendance. The eight include her daughter
Fathom Saulina, Ging Ginanjar, freelance journalist and correspondent for
Australian radio SBS, and Adi Hermawan, a freelance journalist and former
correspondent for “Merdeka”, and Bonar Tigor Naipospos, a human rights
activist who was imprisoned four years ago for distributing the works of
banned novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer.
All those arrested are to be tried under law number 5/PNPS/1963 which
punishes unacceptable political activity with a five-year jail term. Ratna
Sarumpaet additionally faces charges under Article 154 of the Criminal Code
which punishes the “public
expression of feelings of hostility, hatred, or contempt towards the
government” with up to seven years imprisonment.
A legal challenge against her detention and that of five of the others was
rejected by the District Court in North Jakarta on 31 March 1998.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
and drop all charges against them, as there is no evidence to suggest that
they were involved in any criminal activity, and instead were merely
exercising their right to freedom of expression
Appeals To
His Excellency President Suharto
Office of the President
Jakarta, Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 360517 or 367782
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
