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Prabowo considers naming slain activist Marsinah national hero
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Workers' icon: Pictures of Marsinah are shown during a labor protest on March 3, 2014, at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta. Marsinah was a factory worker who was killed in 1993 for demanding workers' rights, including the right for women to take menstrual leave.
(Jp/PJ Leo)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto has conveyed his willingness to name Marsinah, a labor activist who was murdered during the New Order era, a national hero, following suggestions from workers during the commemoration of International Labor Day on Thursday.
Speaking before thousands at the National Monument (Monas) complex in Central Jakarta, Prabowo expressed his commitment to honoring workers, including through the recognition of the historic labor figure.
“When I asked if they had a name in mind, the workers suggested Marsinah,” the President said, as reported by kompas.com. “As long as all labor representatives agree, I will push this plan forward.”
Marsinah was a vocal critic of labor practices under the late president Soeharto’s authoritarian regime. She protested low wages and poor working conditions at her factory in Sidoarjo, East Java.
After a brief disappearance following a scuffle with the military, the 24-year-old unionist was found murdered on May 8, 1993. Her body, discovered in a hut inside a forest in Nganjuk, East Java, indicated she may have been raped and tortured before being killed.
Her death remains one of the country’s most high-profile unresolved human rights cases, alongside the disappearance of poet Wiji Thukul in 1998 and the murder of activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004.
Mirah Sumirat, president of the Indonesian Workers Union Association (Aspirasi), welcomed Prabowo’s pledge but emphasized the need for action beyond rhetoric.
