Eva Bande Vows To Continue Fighting For Farmers' Rights

Jakarta, Dec 23 (Antara) - Agrarian activist from Central Sulawesi Eva Susanti Bande voiced her support for the farmers here on Tuesday, emphasizing that she would not stop fighting for their cause to get their lands back from huge corporations. "I will not stop. Presidential pardon is only the beginning," she stated during a press conference. Eva also revealed that she had met President Joko Widodo on Monday and had urged him to also grant a presidential pardon to other citizens, who are currently still being criminalized. Eva emphasized that the presidential pardon was a preliminary step in tackling agrarian conflicts in a more comprehensive manner as land grabbing by companies is still rampant. She said the presidential pardon should serve as a beacon for better agrarian reforms in the future. She remarked that agrarian conflicts still continued unabated and emphasized that they could be settled by developing community organizations and enlightening the people. In the meantime, Eva called on the mass media to lend complete support to the effort, saying that some media organizations have the backing of capital owners and hence are reluctant to expose the problem correctly. In the meantime, the Women`s Solidarity group has hailed President Joko Widodo`s decision to release Eva Bande. "The Women`s Solidarity group views Eva`s pardon not just as a confession of guilt but also as part of the state`s efforts to show responsibility to mend the previous government`s mistake of criminalizing and sentencing Eva," stated Wahidah Rustam, the chief of the Women`s Solidarity group. She said Eva`s pardon was a new stage in the fight against the criminalization of farmers for agrarian activists and the settlement of agrarian conflicts. In view of that, she said Eva`s release must serve as a leeway for the release of farmers and activists that have been jailed for fighting for their land rights and source of livelihood as well as for ending criminalization in the fight against capital owners. Eva Bande was released on Friday (Dec. 19) after receiving a presidential pardon from President Joko Widodo on December 15, 2014. Eva Bande had been sentenced to 4.5 years imprisonment on charges of instigating people to burn and destroy plantations and heavy equipment belonging to PT Kurnia Luwuk Sejati in the district of Banggai on May 2010.