'Becak' drivers win over Sutiyoso

'Becak' drivers win over Sutiyoso

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Jakarta District Court ruled in favor of dozens of
becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors on Thursday in their
suit against the City Administration, Jakarta Police and the
Jakarta Military Command for arbitrary evictions.

Moments after presiding judge I Nengah Suriada read the
verdict, the courtroom erupted into an effusive scene with
hundreds of evicted people rising to their feet, applauding and
yelling out "Hidup hakim!", or "Long live the judges."

The court said that Governor Sutiyoso, Jakarta Police Chief
Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara, and Jakarta Military Commander
Maj. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, had acted unlawfully by evicting pedicab
drivers, car washers, vendors, and street singers two years ago.

"The eviction, performed without the presentation of proper
documentation, was illegal," declared Suriada, who was flanked by
his by colleagues, judge Kornel Sianturi and Iskandar Tjakke.

"Stop evicting poor people without the proper legal
procedures," he scolded, addressing the defendants.

The court, however, did not order the accused to pay
compensation, because the plaintiffs did not request it.

"If the plaintiffs wish to be compensated, they can file
another lawsuit," Suriada said.

The class action suit was filed in October of last year by
eight eviction victims, who acted as ghost lawyers. The legal
representatives consisted of 57 people, who claimed to represent
15,000 victims of eviction across the city.

The administration, backed by the police and the military
conducted forcible, sometimes violent, mass evictions of the poor
in a number of instances last year.

One civilian guard was killed in a riot that broke out in
August, when officers conducted a raid against pedicabs in the
Roxy and nearby Grogol area in West Jakarta.

"We're happy with the verdict. Compensation is not a big deal
for us. The most important thing is that the authority has to end
illegal eviction against the poor," said Nasro Haris, a becak
driver who acted as a ghost lawyer.

The defense attorneys declined to comment.

Thursday's verdict was not the first such victory for
plaintiffs in civil litigation against government bodies.

In January, the same court found the Central Jakarta
municipality and the state-owned railway company PT KAI guilty of
evicting slum residents from their homes under a railway bridge
in an "unprofessional" way.

That lawsuit was filed by 43 slum residents representing 300
families in Karang Anyar.

The panel of judges, presided over by Judge Andi Samsan
Nganro, ordered the defendants to pay Rp 30 million in material
losses, and Rp 20.5 million for non-material compensation.

Then last October, another civil suit in the same court ruled
against state-run oil company Pertamina for arbitrarily raising
its prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The panel of judges, presided by Judge Ali Akmal Haky, found
that Pertamina and its government-appointed Board of
Commissioners acted unlawfully by increasing the price without
announcing the move to consumers first.