BY KERRYN WILLIAMS
Meetings around Australia have been addressed by some of the 21 Australian activists who were detained by the Indonesian police on June 8-9. The activists had been attending the Asia Pacific People's Solidarity Conference in Jakarta when it was raided by armed police and right-wing thugs.
A meeting in Sydney, held at Trades Hall on June 22, watched video footage of the attack and heard from the eyewitnesses. Helen Jarvis, a detainee and an academic from the University of New South Wales, told the 70 people who attended that the police had "clearly collaborated" with the right-wing militia who later brutally attacked the Indonesian conference participants. Jarvis praised the bravery and courage of the conference hosts. She described how Indonesia labour activist Dita Sari announced during the raid: "This is normal, this is Indonesia."
Mike Donaldson, state secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union, also addressed the meeting. Four NTEU members of his union were among those detained. Donaldson praised the achievements of the movement in solidarity with the democratic movement in Indonesia and pledged his union's support for the struggle.
John Percy from the Democratic Socialist Party, who was also detained explained the People's Democratic Party's (PRD) role in leading the democratic movement in Indonesia.
Ian Rintoul from the International Socialist Organisation described his attendance at the conference as "a tremendous privilege and inspiration". The police raid and detention brought the participants together in a way that could not have been achieved simply through a common discussion at the conference, he said.
Rintoul described Indonesia as a "microcosm of the world crisis of capitalism", pointing to the massive contrast between symbols of wealth like the enormous Bank of Indonesia building and the extreme poverty of the majority of Indonesians.
Pip Hinman from Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) slammed the Australian government for "secretly trying to return to the special relationship developed under Coalition and Labor governments during 32 years of the Suharto dictatorship". Hinman described how Australian embassy officials advised the detainees to follow the orders of the police. This was despite the fact that the detainees' lawyer's advice was that no laws had been broken.
The meeting passed a motion condemning the arbitrary arrests of PRD and other activists in West Java and called on the Australian government to demand their release.
Tony Iltis from Melbourne told Green Left Weekly that more than 60 people attended a meeting at Melbourne University on June 19 to hear from Jakarta conference detainee Graham Matthews, Melbourne-based Indonesian academic Arief Budiman and Graham McCullock of the NTEU. Matthews stressed that the Indonesian delegates were in far greater peril. One Indonesian was hospitalised in a critical condition as result of the attack.
Matthews and the other speakers stressed that the attack represented a return to the political methods of the Suharto dictatorship and was part of the military's attempts to reassert its domination over Indonesian politics.
In Adelaide, reports Kathy Newnam, a meeting organised by Adelaide friends and supporters of the detainees on June 21 attracted 15 people. Graham Matthews, one of the detained conference participants, pointed out that solidarity from organisations and individuals in Australia and around the world played a big role in forcing the Indonesian police to release the detainees. The meeting was also addressed by Andy Alcock from the Campaign for an Independent East Timor.
On June 22, a delegation of friends and supporters gathered outside the Adelaide office of Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. A letter protesting the government's inaction, signed by the detainees, was presented to Downer's office.
Kate Stockdale and Jo Ellis report from Darwin that detainee Sibylle Kaczorek gave a personal yet highly political account of her experience at a well-attended public forum on June 19.
ASIET activists in Darwin will hold a vigil on July 1 outside the Indonesian consulate in Harry Chan Avenue at 6.30pm.
In Perth, reports Chris Latham, 30 people attended a forum on June 21. Julia Perkins, one of the detained conference participants, outlined her experience of the raid and detention and said "the police raid on the conference reflects the current struggle by the remnants of the Suharto 'New Order' regime to regain dominance. It highlights the need for solidarity activists in Australia to attempt to rebuild the consciousness of the Australian public about events in Indonesia and East Timor and to build support for the democratic forces".