Court rejects Megawati's lawsuit over PDI dispute<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri met a stumbling block in her legal
\nbattle yesterday when a court refused to try her lawsuit against
\nthe government and her political foes.<\/p>\n
Presiding Judge I Gde Ketut Sukarata of the Central Jakarta
\nDistrict Court said it had no jurisdiction to try the case.<\/p>\n
"The court agrees with all the arguments put forward by the
\ndefendants that it does not have the authority to hear the case,"
\nSukarata said.<\/p>\n
"It (the case) is purely the internal affairs of PDI. Any
\nparty dispute should be settled at its next congress in 1998,"
\nSukarata added.<\/p>\n
Megawati's supporters in the packed courtroom cheered when
\nR.O. Tambunan, coordinator of Megawati's team of lawyers,
\nimmediately said he would appeal.<\/p>\n
"This is a very weak verdict. It doesn't have any legal
\nbasis," Tambunan told reporters after the hearing was over.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of riot police and troops, backed by guard dogs, an
\narmored car with a water cannon and a fire engine, stood around
\nand in the court compound ready to prevent any violence.<\/p>\n
However, witnesses said there were no visible signs of
\ntension. Police dispersed a crowd of about 200 people waiting
\noutside the court.<\/p>\n
Megawati, the eldest daughter of Indonesia's founding
\npresident Sukarno, had sued the government and the military over
\na party rebel congress in the North Sumatra capital of Medan in
\nJune which dismissed her from the party leadership. The congress
\nelected Soerjadi as the new PDI chairman.<\/p>\n
She named Soerjadi and the congress' organizers, Minister of
\nHome Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal
\nTanjung and National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo as
\ndefendants.<\/p>\n
Yogie's lawyers had argued that the case was an internal party
\naffair and the court had no jurisdiction to hear it.<\/p>\n
Feisal and Dibyo's lawyers had argued that the Armed Forces
\nand police were involved in the Medan congress only to ensure
\nsecurity. "It is the officers' duty to guard large gatherings,"
\none of the lawyers said.<\/p>\n
Megawati and her allies have refused to recognize Soerjadi as
\nparty chairman or any other results of the congress. Megawati has
\nalso filed a lawsuit against the government and the General
\nElections Institute for rejecting her list of candidates for next
\nyear's general election.<\/p>\n
At the moment, she is also suing the mayor of East Jakarta for
\nclosing down her new headquarters in Condet subdistrict, East
\nJakarta on the grounds that it violated residential zoning
\nrestrictions.<\/p>\n
The government now recognizes Soerjadi as the party's
\nlegitimate leader.<\/p>\n
Megawati was not present at the hearing yesterday, though she
\nmade a rare appearance at the same court Wednesday to attend the
\ntrial of 64 of her supporters charged with causing damage and
\ninjury during the July 27 riots.<\/p>\n
On that day, hundreds of Soerjadi's supporters forcibly took
\nover the PDI headquarters from Megawati's loyalists. Mass rioting
\nerupted afterward, leaving at least five dead and over 100 others
\ninjured.<\/p>\n
Megawati filed the lawsuits against the government and her
\nrivals in July. Court hearings, however, had repeatedly been
\npostponed for various reasons, including that of the presiding
\njudge's toothache.<\/p>\n
In a related development, 26 activists from PDI's Bekasi
\nbranch filed a lawsuit yesterday against two of Soerjadi's
\nsupporters who attended the Medan congress.<\/p>\n
"Totok Sugianto and Prawoto, respectively deputy chairman and
\nsecretary of the party's Bekasi branch, had illegally attended
\nthe congress without any recommendation from local party
\nmembers," the plaintiffs' lawyer, Wannen Simamora, told the
\nBekasi court judges, led by Pieter Purba.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the local party's branch, Tony Bener Ambarita,
\nwho is a loyalist of Megawati, told the press his faction
\nremained the legitimate branch leader because it had the
\nrecognition of 18 out of 22 district party offices. (imn\/26\/kod)<\/p>\n
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