Two more PRD activist to go on trial
By James Balowski
On February 4, the Jakarta daily Kompas reported that the trials of People's Democratic Party activists I Gusti Anom Astika and Wilson bin Nurtias have begun. Twelve PRD members are now being tried in Jakarta and Surabaya for subversion, which carries the maximum penalty of death.
Wilson is the coordinator of one of the PRD's mass organisations, the Indonesian People's Solidarity Struggle with the Maubere People, which organised the occupations of the Dutch and Russian embassies in December 1995. Anom is the head of the PRD's department of propaganda and education. Both visited Sydney last year to participate in the "East Timor: Its role in Asia-Pacific" conference.
Sydney member of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET), Rebecca Conroy, was able to meet with Wilson and Anom in prison in Jakarta on Christmas day. Conroy told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that both were in good spirits despite suffering from minor ailments caused by their imprisonment.
Wilson told Conroy that, "Politically and ideologically I feel very strong", adding that he had been occupying himself by researching the rise of the New Order regime and the socialist policies of president Sukarno in the 1960s. He also said that there had been a regular flow of information from the underground PRD members and that they had even been able to smuggle a copy of ASIET's new dossier on the PRD into the prison. Both prisoners have been kept informed about ASIET's campaign to free the political prisoners. They told Conroy: "We have faith in the international solidarity with our struggle and we want people to know that we are still here, and we are still fighting."