Dari Surat-surat Pribadi Menjadi Solidaritas HAM Global : Kisah Pasangan Suami Istri Tapol ’65 Gatot Lestario dan Pudji Aswati (Serta Kesaksian / Kisah Putrinya Setelah Kedua Orangtuanya Ditangkap)

The army transported the PKI leaders and activists out of South Blitar to Jakarta and other cities in Java for detention and eventual trials, many years later, for subversion. Unlike the summary executions of 1965-66, this time the New Order regime was concerned to promote itself as law abiding in its ongoing commitment to fighting communism. One political prisoner, Pudji Aswati, was formerly a teacher and a member of the Indonesian Women’s Movement (Gerwani). After ten years of waiting, she was tried in 1978 and sentenced to 15 years’ jail for her role at South Blitar. The judge paid no regard for the ten years she had waited in the Malang Women’s Prison in East Java. Her husband, Gatot Lestario, who formerly served as secretary of the South Blitar base, was sentenced to death and executed in July 1985. Relatives had cared for the couple’s two children from 1967, when the two went on the run to South Blitar. Finally, Pudji was released in 1989, gravely ill with cancer. She lived her last remaining years with her former fellow inmates, also leftist women activists, and enjoyed visits with her children and grandchildren.

disalin dari 1968: A Crushing Defeat for the Indonesian Left – Vannessa Hearman

As noted above, Lestario’s documentation of prison life was a source of unending interest to his correspondents. For example, Peter Brown was curious as to how Lestario survived in prison, as he explained, “I was interested in the spiritual side of this, how does a man who has been seventeen years in prison and was still facing a sentence of death, what were his thoughts, what are his interests and so on.”105 Lestario wanted his correspondents to become politically active on Indonesian-related causes. He urged them to support his clemency plea to avoid execution. 106 He consistently maintained that he and his wife were imprisoned “for only having differences of political view with the [military] rulers” of Indonesia.107 In response, the Quakers wrote petitions and letters to the Indonesian government. For example, on April 20, 1984, the Browns sent a petition to the Indonesian government signed by 279 Quakers, asking for the release of Lestario and Pudjiaswati on humanitarian grounds.108

selengkapnya Letter-writing and Transnational Activism on Behalf of Indonesian Political Prisoners: Gatot Lestario and his Legacy – Vannessa Hearman

Writings of an Indonesian Political Prisoner

Gatot Lestario

The following excerpts come from the diary of Gatot Lestario, and from letters he wrote to supporters overseas. They are taken from unpublished material in London, courtesy of Carmel Budiardo, who also translated the diary excerpt. The text of letters remains in the English original, with grammar untouched. Accused of being an activist in the East Java branch of the Indonesian Communist Party, Gatot Lestario was arrested and charged. He conducted his own defence at his trial in Blitar in 1978. He was executed by firing squad in 1985.

bad 12 dari buku Flowers in the Wall: Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Melanesia – Webster, David

[kompilasi] Surat-surat Gatot Lestario : Asa Hingga Eksekusi & Solidaritas Internasional Hingga Melampaui Kematiannya

Dari surat-surat pribadi menjadi gerakan HAM global: kisah sahabat pena antara penulis Inggris dan tahanan politik Indonesia tahun 1965 – Vannessa Hearman

“Dari pengalaman saya […] saya tahu banyak tentang kehidupan di penjara. Jika saya penulis seperti Anda, mungkin saya dapat mengarang cerita tentang kehidupan di penjara […] kesedihan dan kesenangan seorang narapidana. ” – Pudji Aswati, seorang narapidana politik dalam surat yang ia tulis pada 25 April 1983.

dalam bahasa inggris

How Women’s Letters Led to Global Fund for Political Prisoners

Personal letters provide an important window for historians to see the powerful emotional connections built between letter writers.

Catatan Bocah Blitar Selatan

(Ditulis kembali oleh Harsutejo dari transkrip yang dibuat oleh Dewi Ratnawulan berdasarkan kisah narasumber Mbak Santi)

hari-hari pengapku

di balik terali sepi

mencengkam bersama kawan

hari nanti yang cerah

hidup seluruh kami berikan

engan luka dalam derita

menunggu dan menanti lagi

detik dan jam tanpa harapan

jauh dari cinta rindumu

dalam pembuangan hukuman mati

’lah dipatok maut pasti

kehangatan berlimpah

ibu hidup mengabdi

nanti lebih bercahya

hati dan pikiran

luka dengan derita

bertahun kami dambakan

kebebasan kemanusiaan murni

semua di negeri ini

hidup berlanjut luka

derita terbalut

ayahmu

cita hari nanti

dalam sanubari

bijak bestari kebebasan

tanpa pengabdian

(‘Surat Untuk Anakku’ oleh Pudji Aswati 1968).

Puisi itu menyentuh perasaanku, ditulis oleh ibuku ketika berada dalam penjara. Puisi ini kubaca beberapa tahun sesudah kedua orangtuaku telah tiada. Puisi itu tercantum dalam buku harian bapak The Last Year of Gatot Lestario yang ditulisnya ketika mendekam di penjara Pamekasan, Madura. Ketika aku teringat orangtuaku, buku ini menjadi curahan hati. Begitu banyak kenangan indah tentang mereka, juga kenangan sedih, sering membuat air mata meleleh menangis dalam hati. Ketika kami masih berkumpul, hidup kami sangat bahagia. Hampir setiap minggu kami diajak rekreasi. Kami terkadang juga diajak ketika mereka bertugas ke daerah-daerah. Sampai tiba badai yang memporak porandakan keluarga dan kebahagiaan kami.

Bapakku aktivis PKI, ibu salah seorang pengurus Gerwani Jawa Timur. Bapak berasal dari Malang, ayahnya, jadi kakekku, pernah menjabat sebagai walikota Malang. Bapakbersekolah di Taman Siswa, Yogyakarta, ia tinggal mondok di rumah Ki Hajar Dewantara. Sejak mahasiswa ia telah aktif dalam pergerakan. Ibu yang berasal dari Magelang, kakekku dari ibu pada masa penjajahan Jepang ditangkap dan meninggaldi penjara. Oleh pemerintah RI kakek diangkat sebagai salah satu Perintis Kemerdekaan karena kegiatannya dalam pergerakan melawan penjajahan. Orangtua kami bertemu waktu sama-sama bersekolah di Yogyakarta dan saling diperkenalkan oleh Ki Suratman, sesepuh Taman Siswa

baca selengkapnya di Menguak Tabir Peristiwa 1 Oktober 1965 Bagian Kedua (halaman 432-435)