Aceh 'Gurita' trials adjourned again

JAKARTA (JP): The trials of two men over the ferry accident near Aceh that led to 338 deaths in January 1996 were adjourned again on Monday because the public prosecutors could not produce their witnesses, Antara reported yesterday.

The trials of two officials in the Banda Aceh court in connection with the Gurita sinking began in December and the court had hoped to wrap them up within six months.

The two men have been charged with premeditated murder.

By Monday, however, the court had only heard the testimony of 17 of the 64 witnesses that the prosecutors had lined up to support their cases, the news agency said.

On trial separately are the port master of the Malahayati/Krueng Raya port and the Banda Aceh branch manager of PT ASDP, the state-owned company which oversees ferry operations, including the Gurita.

A maritime tribunal ruled that bad weather was the cause of the accident when the ferry sank while sailing toward Sabang on We Island at the northern tip of Sumatra.

Aceh Police proceeded nevertheless with pressing charges against six officials they believed were responsible for letting the ferry set sail, in spite of being overloaded and doubts of its seaworthiness. Only two of the six men investigated have so far been brought to court.

Since they began in December, both trials have dragged on because of the inability of the prosecutors to bring in their witnesses. There were also times when the defendants, who are not under arrest, failed to turn up in court, according to Antara.

On Monday, the court was scheduled to hear the testimony of six witnesses. None turned up although this was their third court summons, the report said.

Presiding Judge Rapotan Harahap agreed to give the prosecutors one last chance to produce their witnesses on June 9, but said that beyond that the court would have to settle for the signed statements the witnesses gave to the police.

The number of victims' relatives who packed the courtroom in the first weeks of the hearings have dwindled to a handful, allowing police to relax security. (emb)