INDONESIA: The Indonesian government on Monday (July 5) released 27-year-old Dita Sari, jailed by the government of former president Suharto for organising strikes. She was arrested in April 1996, and sentenced to five years prison in 1997 for 'subversion'.
Dita Sari was arrested after she organised two rallies, involving over 10,000 workers from factories in the Tandes industrial estate in East Java. The rallies which had demanded a rise in the minimum wage and two-day menstruation leave for female workers, ended violently after the military dispersed the protestors, most of whom were women.
Trade unions all over the world have been mounting a campaign for the freedom of Dita Sari and an end to repression of labour and human rights in Indonesia. After the release she thanked the endless support of her fellow labour activists.
She said that she is planning to set up a labour union.