The commemoration of Indonesia’s 66th Independence Day on Wednesday was solemnly marked with various activities, ranging from sentence reductions for thousands of prison inmates across the country, a separatist flag being flown and free airplane rides for orphans to a theatrical performance depicting the struggles of national heroes.
In West Java, the biggest sentence reduction was enjoyed by Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, convicted of murdering human rights activist Munir. Pollycarpus had nine months and five days knocked off his sentence for good behavior by the Law and Human Rights Ministry.
After three years at Sukamiskin penitentiary in Bandung, the former Garuda Indonesia pilot who was sentenced to 20 years in prison has had more than t wo years reduced from his sentence, Dedi Sutardi, head of the West Java penitentiary division of the ministry, said.
Dedi explained that the sentence reduction was given to Pollycarpus, who has been in prison since May 23, 2008, because he earned points for activities including being active with the boy scouts (Pramuka) and donating blood.
“The following is the calculation: five months for general sentence reduction plus one month and 20 days for activities in Pramuka and two months and 15 days for blood donation,” Dedi said in Bandung. In total, 8,501 convicts in West Java received sentence reductions. Law and Human Rights Ministry data shows that 515 convicts were freed after their holiday sentence reductions.
In South Sulawesi, 2,042 convicts had their sentences reduced, of whom 92 were freed.
In West Nusa Tenggara, 718 of the 1,778 convicts jailed in seven penitentiaries in the province got sentence reductions of one to six months.
In Jayapura, Papua, Independence Day celebrations were disturbed when a Morning Star (Bintang Kejora) flag, the symbol of the Free Papuan movement, was flown from a mango tree in Abepura.
Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said the flag was set by an unidentified person and was taken down by security personnel at 10:20 a.m. local time.
“The flag and its pole have been confiscated [and are being held] at the Jayapura Police Station,” Wachyono said.
In Bengkulu, 40 orphans were invited for a free airplane ride. “As one of our acts of charity to commemorate the 66th Independence Day, we invited the orphans to fly aboard a Fokker plane,” Fatmawati airport head Syamsul Bahri said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
The 40 children were selected at random from subdistricts in Bengkulu City by the airport management, he said, adding that flying on a plane was the dream any child.
In Pemekasan, Madura, East Java, a group of teachers staged a play depicting the fierce struggle of Indonesia’s heroes.
Halifaturrahman, head of the local arts and historical values development office, said the drama was meant to help revive patriotic spirits among the youth.
“This performance is expected to remember the sacrifice and struggle by the nation’s heroes in gaining independence [from the Dutch colonial powers],” he said.
Panca Nugraha and Nethy Dharma Somba contributed to this article from Mataram and Jayapura.