Court judges rule to try 64 suspected rioters<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta District Court judges yesterday
\nruled the court would try 64 people charged with assault during
\nthe July 27 riots.<\/p>\n
The panel of judges, in five separate trials, overruled all
\nobjections raised by lawyers and defendants.<\/p>\n
The hearings were marred by the walk out of a defense lawyer,
\nand the dismissal from the bench of another.<\/p>\n
Trimedya Panjaitan, who had led the defense of 12 people,
\nwalked out of the courtroom in protest after his demand for a new
\njudge to try the case was rejected.<\/p>\n
His actions did not cause a mistrial because nine other
\nlawyers continued to represent the defendants.<\/p>\n
\"This hearing will continue. The objections by the defense
\ncannot be accepted,\" Judge Gatam said.<\/p>\n
Trimedya had accused the judge of acting unfairly by refusing
\nto even listen to some defendants' complaints.<\/p>\n
In another courtroom, where another group was being tried,
\nJudge Nurhayati gave respected senior lawyer Amartiwi Saleh her
\nmarching orders because her operating license from the Ministry
\nof Justice expired in April and had not been renewed.<\/p>\n
The judge also said Amartiwi was licensed to work in West Java
\nso could not operate in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Amartiwi abided by the ruling and sat in the spectators'
\nbench.<\/p>\n
The 64 defendants were arrested during the riot at the
\nheadquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) on July 27.
\nSixty other people are being tried in the same court but on a
\ndifferent day of the week. If found guilty of assault, they face
\na maximum seven year jail term.<\/p>\n
The defendants, all supporters of ousted PDI chairperson
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, and their lawyers argued the charges
\nshould be dismissed because legal counsel were not present when
\nthe defendants were interrogated and that the dossiers gave an
\ninaccurate picture of the riot.<\/p>\n
The defendants said the riot was started by supporters of
\nSoerjadi, the officially recognized PDI chairman.<\/p>\n
The judges said the dossiers were valid. They adjourned the
\nhearing until Monday when the prosecutors will call their
\nwitnesses.<\/p>\n
The judges ruled that police officers will be allowed to guard
\ninside the courtrooms for security reasons.<\/p>\n
Some defendants had called for the removal of these officers,
\nbecause their presence was intimidating.<\/p>\n
The judges also denied the defense's call to release the
\ndefendants and put them under city arrest during the trial. (16)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/court-judges-rule-to-try-64-suspected-rioters-1447893297",
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