Condemnation of repression in Indonesia

Condemnation of repression in Indonesia
Press Statement, 2007-01-19

We, as members of the Swedish Parliament and of the European Parliament,
are seriously concerned over the recent developments in connection with
the founding congress of the political party PAPERNAS in the city of
Yogyakarta. Police forces have refused, on completely arbitrary and
politically motivated grounds, to give permission to the holding of the
congress. Moreover, state forces have been working in cohorts with a
grouping of fascist thugs which have besieged the congress venue and
threatened the congress delegates with forcefully breaking up the
holding of the event.

We call upon the Indonesian government to clarify whether it is opposed
to the emergence of political pluralism in the country and to clarify if
we are to understand that it wishes to return to the tactics of
political terror of previous regimes?

We extend our solidarity to our friends in PAPERNAS, who under severe
circumstances are gathered to formulate a democratic political
alternative to the crisis of the neoliberal order. The organizers of the
congress in Yogyakarta should be aware that their ambitions to create a
more just society are shared by millions around the world, and that we
will continue our actions of solidarity with the democratic forces in
Indonesia.

Stockholm January 19, 2007

Jens Holm           
Member of the European Parliament (GUE/NGL)  
Member Committee on International Trade of the European Parliament

Hans Linde
Member of the Riksdag (National Parliament of Sweden)
Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs