Lawsuit revocation in gang rape case draws criticism<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman criticized
\nyesterday the decision of the defense lawyers in a robbery and
\nrape case to withdraw from a lawsuit against the Bekasi police
\njust as the pre-trial session hearing of the suit was about to be
\nconcluded.<\/p>\n
\"It is their right to withdraw from the pre-trial procedures
\nbut it is not ethical for them to do such a thing when the pre-
\ntrial suit was about to reach its final stage,\" Oetojo told
\nreporters after installing new senior officials of the justice
\nministry.<\/p>\n
The minister installed Bagir Manan as the new director general
\nof judicial affairs, replacing Saleh Baharis.<\/p>\n
Oetojo said that his office would soon summon the lawyers for
\na meeting in relation to their withdrawal.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday the four defense lawyers -- Petrus Bala Pattyona,
\nHendar Puji Astoro, Aidi Johan and Ismail -- withdrew from a suit
\nagainst the Bekasi police on the ground that the authorities had
\nfailed to guarantee their safety.<\/p>\n
Last week, the four lawyers were stoned, beaten and kicked by
\nangry mobs during the last two sessions of the pre-trial
\nhearings.<\/p>\n
The lawyers said that the police and anti-riot troops had
\nbarely been able to protect them.<\/p>\n
The court session on Tuesday was supposed to have been the
\nfinal stage of pre-trial hearings of complaints that the Bekasi
\npolice illegally arrested the accused in the robbery and rape
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Eleven accused were arrested last month on charges of having
\nrobbed a man named Acan and brutally raped his wife and two
\nteenage daughters in a small, isolated village in the Bekasi
\narea, 30 kilometers east of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Soerjono said withdrawal from a lawsuit being
\ntried is legally permissible, rejecting suggestions that the
\nlawyers' move had been in contempt of court.<\/p>\n
Neither Soerjono nor Oetojo expressed any objections in
\nrelation to the lawyers' other request, that the robbery and rape
\ntrials be held in a court other than the Bekasi District Court.<\/p>\n
\"It is within the authority of the chief of the Bekasi
\nDistrict Court to propose a change of trial venue,\" Oetojo said.<\/p>\n
\"It is then a matter for the Supreme Court and the justice
\nministry to decide whether to approve the transfer request or
\nnot,\" Soerjono said. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lawsuit-revocation-in-gang-rape-case-draws-criticism-1447893297",
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