Bimantoro challenged by officers in legal battle

Bimantoro challenged by officers in legal battle

JAKARTA (JP): The legal battle between eight middle-ranking
police officers and National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro
began on Monday at the South Jakarta District Court.

The hearings were conducted in four separate rooms at the
South Jakarta District Court with four judges.

During the hearing, the judges ordered the National Police not
to restrict the plaintiffs' lawyers from meeting their clients.
The officers' lawyers told the court that they were prohibited by
certain officers at the National Police Headquarters from meeting
their clients.

The court was hearing the lawsuits filed by Sr. Comr. Alfons
Loemau, Sr. Comr. Salikin Moenits, Sr. Comr. Parlindungan Sinaga,
Sr. Comr. Banjarnahor, Sr. Comr. Nurdin Umar, Sr. Comr. Bambang
Widodo, Sr. Comr. Badaruzzaman Hidir and Adj. Comr. Herman Kotto
against Bimantoro for ordering their arrest and detention for
alleged insubordination.

Johnson Panjaitan, chairman of a team of lawyers grouped under
the Police Professional Solicitors Team, said that the officers
refiled the suits against Bimantoro because the latter did not
give a positive response after they withdrew their previous
lawsuits.

Instead of releasing them, the police chief kept them under
detention at the Police Mobile Brigade Headquarters in Kelapa
Dua, south of here, he said.

The plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the National Police could
not charge the eight officers by exercising articles under the
military criminal code relating to abuse of power.

Based on the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree No.
VII/MPR/2000 Article 7 paragraph 4, the National Police must
abide by civilian laws and regulations and not military rules.

"Any violations of the law by police officers should be taken
before a civil court and not a military tribunal," lawyer Irfan
Melayu told the hearing of Alfons Loemau.

The lawyers claimed that the procedures the police employed in
the detention and questioning of the plaintiffs were "incorrect".

The warrant for the arrest of the plaintiffs which was dated
July 22 and was made under the orders of Bimantoro, who was no
longer the National Police chief.

President Abdurrahman Wahid had issued Presidential Decree
No. 49/2001 suspending Bimantoro as the National Police chief on
July 1.

"The order by Bimantoro, who claimed to retain his position as
National Police chief, should be annulled by law," Irfan
remarked.

Meanwhile, the team of lawyers from the National Police
headquarters insisted that the MPR Decree No. VII/MPR/2000
Article 7 paragraph 4 did not specify a concrete explanation that
the National Police must abide by civilian laws and regulations.

It did not stipulate who should investigate, prosecute or try
police officers who violated the law, according to the lawyers.

The National Police are still under the Military court
according to Law No. 31/1997 Article 5 paragraph 1 about military
court and Law No. 28/1997 Article 5 paragraph 1 which states that
the National Police are part of the Indonesian Military, said Sr.
Comr. Suyitno, a lawyer from the National Police headquarters.

The lawyers claimed that the plaintiffs' lawsuit was "error in
persona" since the accused should not be Bimantoro but their own
supervisors.

"We (the National Police lawyers) questioned the role of the
plaintiff's lawyers since they should have a permit or an order
from the officers' supervisors," Suyitno told the hearing of
Alfons.

They asked the court to suspend the hearings because the cases
should have been handled by a military court and not a civilian
court.

The hearings will resume on Tuesday.

After the hearings, Johnson told reporters that his clients
had been physically and mentally abused by a police officer
during their detention.

"I saw a police officer slap Bambang Widodo in public while
saying that he had made the situation worse," he said.

He also regretted that the plaintiffs, as middle-ranking
officers, were detained in Kelapa Dua, a place for lower ranking
officers.

The plaintiffs' families attended the hearings to support the
plaintiffs lawsuit. Some of them carried posters reading "the
detention is unlawful".

The plaintiffs are being detained for allegedly staging a
revolt against Bimantoro as they, along with dozens of middle-
ranking officials, held a discussion over Bimantoro's defiant
stance against then president Abdurrahman Wahid on July 9. (04)