An explosion shook a leading Indonesian human rights office in Jakarta last night, causing no casualties and little damage. It occurred on the eve of the resumption of former president Suharto's corruption trial.
The blast follows a spate of attacks that have coincided with Gen Suharto's trial and other government efforts to investigate his family for corruption during his 32 years of rule.
The rights organisation, Kontras, deals with missing persons and victims of violence.
The heightened security ahead of Gen Suharto's third hearing today came after the Supreme Court sentenced the former dictator's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, to 18 months in jail for corruption.
But Putra (37), who was also ordered to pay $3.5 million in compensation, remained free yesterday as his lawyers said they had yet to receive a copy of the verdict. The Supreme Court ruling overturned two previous verdicts by lower courts.
Tensions have been running high in Jakarta, which has witnessed five bomb attacks in the past months. Two of them came on the eve of each of the previous hearings in the $571 million corruption trial of Gen Suharto (79).
--(Reuters)
Six young Christians from Indonesia's embattled Maluku Islands jumped over the fence of the Swiss embassy in Jakarta yesterday, demanding political asylum for one of their group to highlight the Muslim-Christian conflict there.