170 W. Kalimantan riot suspects seek legal aid

170 W. Kalimantan riot suspects seek legal aid

JAKARTA (JP): One hundred and seventy suspects detained for
their alleged role in the recent West Kalimantan ethnic riots
sought legal aid yesterday from the local chapter of the
Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), a lawyer said.

Akil Mochtar said the requests for aid were submitted by
police and local non-governmental organizations to the
association's team of lawyers.

He said about 80 percent of the suspects, detained in the
Pontianak police precinct and subprecincts, were Madurese and the
rest Dayaks.

"Most of them were arrested when security authorities launched
a street operation for illegal weapons in the early weeks of the
unrest in February," Akil told The Jakarta Post.

Akil, secretary-general of Ikadin's local chapter, said the
charges against the suspects ranged from murder, inciting unrest
to carrying weapons.

"Most of them are facing charges of carrying sharp weapons,"
he said, adding only two suspects were charged with murder.

No details on where and when the suspects were rounded up has
come from the authorities, Akil said.

Some were arrested in the worst affected districts of
Peniraman, Anjungan and Sanggau, north of Pontianak, Akil said.

He said the association would need a defense team of 20
lawyers, but so far only 13 had volunteered. The local
association has about 40 lawyers, Akil said.

"We will contact our colleagues in Jakarta if we desperately
need more lawyers, but this is unlikely because not all the
suspects will end up on trial", he said.

"It's not easy to prove all the allegations against all the
suspects, and not all the legal procedures have been properly
carried out," he said.

Akil said the team would provide legal aid and help their
clients understand the problems facing them.

"Basically we'll tell them we are not defending them because
they are Madurese or Dayaks, but because what they did was
against the law," he said, adding that most of their clients were
"very ignorant people".

Akil said the legal defense team had lawyers of both Madurese
and Dayak descent.

"They will combine the legal approach with social and cultural
approaches," he said.

Akil said the trials would be held in Pontianak considering
the "uncertain situation and conditions" outside the capital.

Bloody clashes claiming hundreds of lives in West Kalimantan
broke out in the hinterland early last month following an attack
on a Dayak dormitory in Siantan district by Madurese. (aan)