It's Tommy's trial, but judge talks about Akbar<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The trial of Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra resumed on Wednesday.
\nBut presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria made use of the occasion to
\ndefend himself for his failure to stop the war of words between a
\nlawyer for House of Representatives' Speaker Akbar Tandjung and a
\nprosecutor who is handling Akbar's case.<\/p>\n
Tommy's case has nothing to do with the ongoing graft trial of
\nAkbar, it just happens that Amiruddin is the presiding judge in
\nboth cases.<\/p>\n
In Akbar's hearing on Monday, lawyer John Waliry and
\nprosecutor Fachmi called each other bangsat (bastard). But the
\ncourt did not immediately put an end to the argument, which
\nsparked criticism from legal observers who believed that the
\nincident was a contempt of court.<\/p>\n
\"I would like to comment on the bangsat incident. Critics said
\nthat I was not firm in leading Monday's hearing... Should I have
\ntaken off my robe and stopped the conflict physically or should I
\nhave asked a guard to fire a shot?\" Amiruddin said in a rising
\nvoice soon after he opened Wednesday's hearing.<\/p>\n
Visibly upset, he asked the critics not to comment on the
\nincident as they were not present in the hearing.<\/p>\n
\"It happened only for a few seconds and I had ordered them to
\nstop the argument,\" Amiruddin said.<\/p>\n
Monday's incident occurred after John gave a comment on the
\ntestimony of a prosecuting witness. John said it was auditio, a
\nLatin legal term referring to hearsay. The prosecutor said it was
\nnot necessary to use the word, because the witness did not
\nunderstand what it meant. John said it was his chance to speak
\nbut Fachmi said he had the right to speak because he was the one
\nwho presented the witness.<\/p>\n
John then shouted bangsat to chief prosecutor Fachmi, who
\nimmediately returned the profanity.<\/p>\n
They finally stopped hurling obscenities after Amiruddin said
\nthe judges would walk out of the courtroom if they did not stop.<\/p>\n
On the sidelines of the hearing, Amiruddin said that the
\nsituation had been settled and both men had forgiven each other.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Tommy's lawyers returned to court on Wednesday
\nafter they boycotted the hearing last week due to the police
\ndetention of their colleague, Elza Syarief.<\/p>\n
Elza is accused of bribing two witnesses in the trial of
\nTommy, who is accused of murder and illegal possession of
\nfirearms.<\/p>\n
The court heard the testimony from eight witnesses on
\nWednesday, including two security guards of Tommy's rented house
\nin Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. The police found several
\nfirearms, explosives, ammunition and documents in the house.<\/p>",
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