Rights body asks Soerjono to revoke decision<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights added to
\nthe already mounting pressure on the chief justice to uphold the
\nSupreme Court's decision to award an Irian Jaya villager Rp 6
\nbillion ($8.5 million) in compensation in a land dispute with the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"The commission deeply regrets the cancellation of the
\nverdict,\" commission chief Ali Said was quoted by his deputy
\nMarzuki Darusman yesterday.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Soerjono sent a letter to the district court of
\nJayapura, Irian Jaya, this month to the effect that the Supreme
\nCourt's verdict in favor of plaintiff Hanoch Hebe Ohee cannot be
\nexecuted.<\/p>\n
Soerjono argued that the defendant, the Irian Jaya provincial
\ngovernment, was not a public legal body with its own property.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said Soerjono's letter was a personal one which had no
\nlegal authority whatsoever to annul the final verdict.<\/p>\n
The press meeting was attended by prominent commission members
\nlike Baharuddin Lopa, Roekmini Koesoemo Astoeti, Sri Soemantri,
\nDjoko Soegianto, Bambang W. Soeharto, Clementino Dos Reis Amaral,
\nand Asmara Nababan.<\/p>\n
The rights commission also urged Soerjono to revoke his letter
\nfor the sake of the Indonesian judicial system's image.<\/p>\n
\"Soerjono's reasoning to cancel the supreme court's decision
\nby just saying that the Irian Jaya governor is not a public legal
\nbody and has no own property is groundless,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
The dispute over the 62 hectare plot of land, located about 30
\nkilometers from the Sentani Airport, began in 1984 when Ohee
\nsought to regain the property controlled by the Irian government.<\/p>\n
Ohee, who has spent no less than Rp 1 billion ($450,000) in
\nthe 10 year legal battle, claims that the property is communal
\nland belonging to his clan since the 1940s.<\/p>\n
He won the legal battle at the district court level in July
\n1985. After losing an appeal to the high court, the provincial
\ngovernment appealed to the supreme court in 1988 and lost again.<\/p>\n
Irian Jaya governor Jacob Pattipi initially asserted his
\nreadiness to pay for the land. But he later said that the
\ngovernment had only Rp 8 billion on hand and asked for
\npostponement of payment.<\/p>\n
Baharuddin Lopa warned that Soerjono set a bad precedence when
\nhe revoked the supreme court's final decision with his \"personal
\nnote\" to the extent that people would lose confidence in the
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
\"In the future, people may consider it useless to seek legal
\nsolutions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that Soerjono \"has gone too far\" with the letter which
\nis irrelevant to Pattipi's request for only postponement of
\npayment.<\/p>\n
He also said that there would be no problem for Soerjono to
\ncancel his letter.<\/p>\n
\"Nothing in this world is unchangeable,\" he said, adding that
\nthe revocation of the letter was not against the regulation as it
\nwas for the people's benefit.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Sri Soemantri said Soerjono's letter, which
\ndescribed a governor as a \"non-public legal body\" has no legal
\nbasis.<\/p>\n
\"According to the Law No. 5\/1974 (on public administration), a
\ngovernor is a head of a province who is empowered to represent
\nthe local people,\" he said.<\/p>\n
All commission members agreed that all parties in dispute
\ncould sit and again discuss a fair solution to the problem.<\/p>\n
\"The disputed parties can discuss the amount of the
\ncompensation,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
\"The compensation could be paid by the Irian Jaya provincial
\nadministration in installments,\" Lopa added. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rights-body-asks-soerjono-to-revoke-decision-1447893297",
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