Njono: PKI coup hastened by Sukarno's illness
Leeuwarder Courant, 1 December 1965, p. 11: relays armed-forces newspaper reports of SOBSI chief Njono's interrogation statements: planning began in July, Aidit's claim that Sukarno was gravely ill was decisive, and Njono was to raise a 2,000-man reserve from PKI, Pemuda Rakjat, Sobsi, BTI and Gerwani members, learning
Berita Yudha, 3 December 1965
Berita Yudha, 3 Desember 1965. Army's version of the 'confession' of SOBSI chair and Politburo member Njono, with Gerwani items on pp. 1–2.
Case of Njono (Mahmillub I), 1966
Army-published official record of the first Mahmillub trial, of PKI Politburo member Njono (1966), with decrees, indictment and proceedings; printed in 21,000 copies. Primary source on the legal framing of the 30 September Movement.
Trial begins in Jakarta: Dutch woman defends Untung
Trouw (14 Feb 1966): on the eve of the Untung and Njono trials in Jakarta, Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers, herself a PKI member, takes on the defence after others refused. Profiles her and her husband as 'non-extreme' communists with Leiden training. No mention of Gerwani; context for the 1965-66 Mahmillub t
Dutch woman sole defender
ANP report in Algemeen Dagblad (1966-02-15) on Dutch-born lawyer Trees Sunito-Heyligers, the only Indonesian jurist willing to defend PKI/SOBSI leader Njono before the special military tribunal. Her husband Sunito was jailed after the coup and she was dismissed from the state bank. No Gerwani mention; context for the 1
Not public: the Njono trial
Limburgsch Dagblad, 15 February 1966, p. 1: start of the closed Mahmillub trial of SOBSI leader Njono, who says he was told to inform Sukarno of a 'council of generals' but joined the coup instead. Students demanded a public trial; only selected journalists are admitted. Njono is defended by Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soe
After death-penalty demand: Njono's counsel pleads acquittal
Trouw (21 Feb 1966): after the prosecutor demanded the death penalty for SOBSI leader Njono, his lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers argues nothing proves a plot to overthrow the government; Njono gave an hour-long political defence. Lawyer complains of two days' preparation; PKI-linked Colonel Latief reportedly arrested. N
Dutch woman lawyer arrested in Jakarta on suspicion of HSI membership
De Nieuwe Limburger, 5 Jan 1968 (Reuters): Jakarta police arrest Dutch lawyer Mrs Mr Trees Soenito-Heyligers, from Zwolle, on suspicion of membership of the banned communist scholars' association HSI. Two years earlier she had defended trade union leader Njono, sentenced to death for the 1965 coup.
Beatrix and Claus hunting in the Federal Republic (item on arrest of Trees Soenito-Heyligers)
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 5 January 1968, p. 1: short wire item under an unrelated royal-hunt headline: Jakarta police arrested Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers as a suspected member of the banned HSI; two years earlier she defended SOBSI leader Njono, who was sentenced to death. No Gerwani content.
Arrest of Mrs Soenito in Jakarta
Tubantia (5 Jan 1968): Jakarta police arrest Zwolle-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers on suspicion of membership of the banned Himpunan Sarjana Indonesia; she had defended SOBSI leader Njono, sentenced to death. Biographical detail on her and her husband Soenito, arrested after the coup. No Gerwani content.
Dutch jurist arrested
Nederlands Dagblad, 6 January 1968, p. 1: brief report that Jakarta police arrested Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers on suspicion of membership in the banned scholars' association HSI; she had defended SOBSI leader Njono, who was sentenced to death for the 1965 coup. A second item on Cyprus is unrelated. No Ge
TAPOL Bulletin no. 9, March 1975: Women on Trial
TAPOL Bulletin no. 9 (March 1975) front page 'Women on Trial': photo of Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono at their 3 Feb 1975 trial for subversion, with a Lubang Buaya sewing-and-cooking allegation. Early international attention to Gerwani trials.
Thousands of Indonesian women still languish in Suharto's prisons
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
Thousands of Indonesian women still languish in Suharto's prisons
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
NVB demands freedom for Gerwani women (full newspaper page, 21 Jun 1975)
Full De Waarheid page, 21 Jun 1975 (p. 5), mostly unrelated (Mokum 700 festival, EEC steel output, farmers' protests). The relevant article reports the NVB's call to protest the Jakarta trial of four Gerwani women: life demanded for Sulami (about 50), 20 years for Suharti Harsono, Sri Ambar Rukmijati and Sudjinah, accu
Brave stance before tribunal: 'No regret for activities': heavy sentences against Indonesian women
De Waarheid, 11 Jul 1975, p. 1: report that the Jakarta tribunal sentenced four women: Sulami, secretary of the banned Gerwani, to twenty years; Sudjinah, editor of the organisation's paper, 18 years; Sri Ambar, SOBSI board member, and Suharti, BTI board member, 15 years each. Headlined as courageous conduct before the
Brave stance before tribunal: heavy sentences against Indonesian women (reprint 12 Jul 1975)
De Waarheid, 12 Jul 1975, p. 1: reprint of the report that the Jakarta tribunal sentenced four women: Sulami, secretary of the banned Gerwani, to twenty years; Sudjinah, editor of the organisation's paper, 18 years; Sri Ambar (SOBSI board) and Suharti (BTI board) 15 years each. Headlined 'courageous conduct before the
Daily World, 26 July 1975: Women leaders jailed by Indonesian junta
Daily World (New York), 26 July 1975, p. 9: Foreign Department report that a Jakarta court on 16 June 1975 sentenced four women after a five-month trial: Sulami (general secretary of the Indonesian Women's Movement, 20 years), Sudjinah (magazine editor, 18), Sri Ambar (SOBSI women's section, 15) and Suharti Alimarkaban
Indonesian Women (Tharunka, 30 July 1975)
Tharunka (UNSW student paper), 30 July 1975, p. 8, article 'Indonesian Women' on women political prisoners after 1965. It describes Gerwani as the largest left women's organisation, targeted by a press campaign depicting members as sex-maniacs and Lubang Buaya participants, and banned in October 1965. It reports at lea
Indonesian Women: The Banned Women's Organisation (Tharunka, 30 July 1975)
Tharunka (UNSW student paper), 30 July 1975, p. 8, clean OCR of the article 'Indonesian Women: The Banned Women's Organisation' (same article as GA-00274). It presents Gerwani as unaffiliated with the PKI, then attacked in 1965 by press stories of 'Gerwani prostitutes', 'obscene sex-dancing' and genital mutilation of g
TAPOL Bulletin no. 11, August 1975, on the 'show trials' ahead of the tenth anniversary. Key item (p.3): four women, including Gerwani General Secretary Sulami, sentenced after a five-month trial to 15-20 years for subversion (helping the PKPS movement, illegal cells, alleged recruitment of cooks and seamstresses for L
Women, mothers (what Suharto's envoys kept silent about)
De Waarheid, 20 Sep 1975, p. 3: article asking what the Indonesian parliamentary delegation did not mention: Plantungan women's camp in Central Java (386 women), Bukit Duri and Semarang prisons, and named women prisoners: Umi Sardjono, chair of the underground Gerwani, vice-chairs Salawati Daud and Mudigdio, Maasje Siw
FCO 15/2701: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1980)
British FCO file FCO 15/2701 (1980), 'Political detainees in Indonesia': Amnesty International's April 1980 letter and memorandum to the UK government before the IGGI meeting, on release of B-category prisoners, restrictions on ex-detainees, missing persons and unfair A-category trials, plus TAPOL Bulletin extracts (No
TAPOL Bulletin No. 37, January 1980: Indonesia's Political Trials
TAPOL Bulletin no. 37 (London, January 1980): editorial on the end of KOPKAMTIB's release plan, plus Julie Southwood's long study of 1,014 political trials since 1966. It notes the 1965 Lubang Buaya claim that communist women castrated the generals, and the 1975 subversion trial of Gerwani's Sulami and Sudjinah, with S
TAPOL Bulletin no. 44 (London, March 1981): army takeover of the legal sector, Free-Aceh trials, Pramoedya's Buru novels harassed, East Timor, US human rights report. A short item (p.4) reports that eight women political prisoners long held in Bukit Duri were moved to Tangerang women's prison: Sulami (20 years), Sudjin
TAPOL Bulletin no. 53 (London, September 1982, 24 pp.): new Army 'Board' to monitor ex-tapols and Sudomo's remarks on 33,000 B and 540,000 C category people under supervision, an editorial against 65 pending death sentences (Munir, Ruslan Wijayasastra), West Papua testimonies, East Timor resettlement, arms sales, Sunar
TAPOL Bulletin No. 169/170, Jan/Feb 2003: obituary of Sulami (Gerwani deputy secretary-general)
TAPOL Bulletin no. 169/170 (Jan/Feb 2003), with Carmel Budiardjo's obituary of Sulami (pp. 13-15). Born Sragen 15 Aug 1926, she joined Gerwis (Gerwani from 1951), became East Java executive member (1954) and second deputy secretary-general (1957), attended WIDF meetings, and was deputy secretary-general in 1965. Arrest
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde