AI is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of students imprisoned in Indonesia for their non-violent beliefs and activities. Scores of student activists have been jailed since the early 1990s. In February 1994 student and human rights activist Nuku Soleiman was imprisoned for four years for “insulting the president”; his sentence was increased to five years in May 1994. A further 21 students were imprisoned for six months on the same charge on 18 May. Some student prisoners of conscience have been released, including Bonar Tigor Naipospos, conditionally released on 16 May. AI welcomes his release but believes that he should never have been detained. The military authorities have arbitrarily rejected a request for the conditional release of two others jailed for similar offences. Bambang Subono and Bambang Isti Nugroho remain in prison for possession of banned literature and participating in political discussion groups.
