Acehnese activists trial starts very late

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The hearings for two Acehnese activists at South Jakarta District Court were, unusually, held very late on Monday, sparking suspicion that it was part of a ploy to avoid media coverage.

The first, for defendant Taufik Abdullah, 30, commenced at 3:15 p.m., when a defense witness gave his testimony.

Taufik is accused of illegal possession of explosives linked to the bomb blast at Iskandar Muda student house on Jl. Perahu No.1, Guntur subdistrict, Setiabudi district, South Jakarta.

Presided over by judge Hesmu Purwanto, the trial was held in a courtroom, where the hearing for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) activist, Nashiruddin Ahmad, was scheduled to take place.

Nashiruddin, 41, was chairman of the Joint Committee of Security Affairs of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the talks between the Indonesian government and GAM on July, 1, 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nashiruddin, his lawyer Garda Sembiring and prosecutor Mawardi Adam, as well as others, including media reporters, were ready at the courtroom when they were asked to leave as the room was required for Taufik's hearing.

Grumbling, a TV reporter complained about the late hearing, suspicious that the court was trying to avoid media coverage.

"It (the court) must know well that our time here is limited by reporting deadlines," she said.

Nashiruddin was charged with passport forgery. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum seven-year jail sentence.

His trial, presided over by judge I Dewa Gde Putra Jadnya, was held at about 4 p.m. and later moved to another courtroom to hear witness testimonies.

Taufik's lawyer, Taufik Basari of Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, suspected that the court had deliberately held the hearing very late in order to avoid media coverage.

He said he was told that the hearing was late as all rooms were in use.

However, many reporters who arrived at the venue after 10 a.m. found that several rooms were. The court's main room, the Garuda room, in which Taufik's hearing was held, remained closed until 12:30 p.m.

Garda said the legal processing of Nashiruddin was, in fact, a political rather than a criminal matter.

"The Nashiruddin case has been politicized by the government," Garda said.