'Becak' drivers win over Sutiyoso<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court ruled in favor of dozens of
\nbecak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors on Thursday in their
\nsuit against the City Administration, Jakarta Police and the
\nJakarta Military Command for arbitrary evictions.<\/p>\n
Moments after presiding judge I Nengah Suriada read the
\nverdict, the courtroom erupted into an effusive scene with
\nhundreds of evicted people rising to their feet, applauding and
\nyelling out "Hidup hakim!", or "Long live the judges."<\/p>\n
The court said that Governor Sutiyoso, Jakarta Police Chief
\nInsp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara, and Jakarta Military Commander
\nMaj. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, had acted unlawfully by evicting pedicab
\ndrivers, car washers, vendors, and street singers two years ago.<\/p>\n
"The eviction, performed without the presentation of proper
\ndocumentation, was illegal," declared Suriada, who was flanked by
\nhis by colleagues, judge Kornel Sianturi and Iskandar Tjakke.<\/p>\n
"Stop evicting poor people without the proper legal
\nprocedures," he scolded, addressing the defendants.<\/p>\n
The court, however, did not order the accused to pay
\ncompensation, because the plaintiffs did not request it.<\/p>\n
"If the plaintiffs wish to be compensated, they can file
\nanother lawsuit," Suriada said.<\/p>\n
The class action suit was filed in October of last year by
\neight eviction victims, who acted as ghost lawyers. The legal
\nrepresentatives consisted of 57 people, who claimed to represent
\n15,000 victims of eviction across the city.<\/p>\n
The administration, backed by the police and the military
\nconducted forcible, sometimes violent, mass evictions of the poor
\nin a number of instances last year.<\/p>\n
One civilian guard was killed in a riot that broke out in
\nAugust, when officers conducted a raid against pedicabs in the
\nRoxy and nearby Grogol area in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"We're happy with the verdict. Compensation is not a big deal
\nfor us. The most important thing is that the authority has to end
\nillegal eviction against the poor," said Nasro Haris, a becak
\ndriver who acted as a ghost lawyer.<\/p>\n
The defense attorneys declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Thursday's verdict was not the first such victory for
\nplaintiffs in civil litigation against government bodies.<\/p>\n
In January, the same court found the Central Jakarta
\nmunicipality and the state-owned railway company PT KAI guilty of
\nevicting slum residents from their homes under a railway bridge
\nin an "unprofessional" way.<\/p>\n
That lawsuit was filed by 43 slum residents representing 300
\nfamilies in Karang Anyar.<\/p>\n
The panel of judges, presided over by Judge Andi Samsan
\nNganro, ordered the defendants to pay Rp 30 million in material
\nlosses, and Rp 20.5 million for non-material compensation.<\/p>\n
Then last October, another civil suit in the same court ruled
\nagainst state-run oil company Pertamina for arbitrarily raising
\nits prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).<\/p>\n
The panel of judges, presided by Judge Ali Akmal Haky, found
\nthat Pertamina and its government-appointed Board of
\nCommissioners acted unlawfully by increasing the price without
\nannouncing the move to consumers first.<\/p>",
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