Seeking the Truth
Yap,s world was one of advocacy. He founded the Human Rights Defense Institute, the Indonesian Advocates Association and the Indonesian Legal aid Institute. He would defend anyone whose rights had been trampled on, from the common people whose home was destroyed to (Indonesian Communist Party) PKI officials, Soebandrio and Abdul Latief and called for the release of PKI detainees. His defense was to pursue the truth, not merely to win his cases. \
June 4, 2013
Peradin,s Politics
with 13 other seasoned lawyers, Yap established the Indonesian Bar Association.
The call to dawn prayer on the first day of Lebaran on January 1, 1968 had sounded when Yap Thiam Hien was forcibly picked up by men in black from his home in Grogol, West Jakarta. Led by Lt. Col. Djohan Arifin, the troops took him to a local police station. From whispers overheard, Yap realized that he was arrested because he was considered to be i
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