---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ and click banner our sponsor ---------------------------------------------------------- Indonesian court rejects student activist's demand for release (ADDS arrest of protesting students) JAKARTA, Jan 22 (AFP) - A court Friday ruled against an Indonesian student activist arrested on suspicion of abducting a police intelligence officer, saying his claim to have been illegally arrested could not be proven. South Jakarta District Court presiding judge Darlan Nasution ruled against the suit filed by Indonesian Christian University student Edward Taurus Sikaro-karo against Jakarta police, charging they had illegally arrested him, a witness said. "The plaintiff could not prove his charges ... that his arrest was unlawful," Nasution said in his verdict. The verdict was greeted by jeers and insults from more than 30 students who had gathered in front of the courthouse, unable to enter because of strict security measures. "The court is unfair," "Long live students," and "Long live the people," shouted the protesting students, who faced more than 100 police deployed to guard the courthouse. About 60 students later went to the city police headquarters to "surrender themselves" to express their disappointment over the court ruling. "We surrender ourselves to the police because we felt the court has been unfair to Edward. This is a moral protest," a student said. "We also believed the police have intervened in the decision-making process. "Sending so many personnel to the courthouse is a show of force to the judge who of course would feel pressured," he added. The 60 students, nine of them women, had their identification taken down by police and were questionned. Police said they were detaining the students for violating laws on public expression by protesting without prior notification to police. "Whatever they called it, it is clearly a demonstration because they brought posters and banners," a police officer said. Another panel of judges at the same court Monday ruled in favor of another student, Rudi Pahala Simatupang Siburian, who was arrested along with Sikaro-karo. Police lawyer I Ketut Sudiarsa said the cases of Sikaro-karo and Siburian were identical but that unfortunately in the case of Siburian, police had been unable to provide the court with original arrest documents. Siburian and Sikaro-karo were arrested on December 8 on suspicion of kidnapping and robbery with violence in connection with the abduction of an intelligence agent during a student protest in November. Both separately lodged protests with police demanding they be released as they were arrested without warrants and their detention did not follow proper procedures. The court in its verdict in the case filed by Siburian had also granted one million rupiah (114 dollars), against the one billion rupiah of material losses demanded by the plaintiff from police for his arrest and detention. The two students claimed they were saving the plainclothes officer from being beaten up as an informant by other student demonstrators when they whisked him away in a taxi during the November street protest. str-pyp/bs/kf ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 23 Jan 1999 jam 03:28:07 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
