Appeal justices sworn in

JAKARTA: Supreme Court Chief Bagir Manan swore in on Monday six appeal justices for the ad hoc human rights tribunal, to handle cases of human rights defendants acquitted in the lower courts.

The human rights tribunal has so far prosecuted 16 people for their roles in gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999, of which 11, mostly military and police officers, have been acquitted. Meanwhile, the trials of former East Timor military Commander Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and former Udayana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri are still ongoing.

The six appeal judges, four of whom are academicians, are: Sumaryono Suryokusumo, Eddy Djunaedi Karnasudirdja, A. Masyhur Effendi, Ronald Zelfianus Titahelu, Sakir Ardiwinata, and Tomy Boestomi.

They were appointed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Feb. 24. --JP