270 sailors sue shipping firm

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta district court opened on Tuesday the trial of an executive of a shipping company charged with swindling 270 sailors.

In the courtroom packed with angry sailors, Carel Simon was charged with cheating the seamen who had paid between Rp 1 million and Rp 2.7 million ($446-$1,200) to get employment at his company PT Agha Prindo Satria.

The trial session almost turned into chaos and was adjourned until July 18 after the angry sailors demanded that the chief commissioner of the company, Johana Winowodo TA, was also arraigned to court on the same charges.

Johan Joni, one of the plaintiffs, said that the sailors did not get the jobs with Tatsumi Maru tankers as promised. He said that the company raked at least Rp 400 million from the seamen, who has work experience of at least two years.

He said the plaintiffs were lured by PT Agha Prindo's promise that they would earn at least US$1,000 a month, Antara reported. (pan)