Court delays hearing evictees suit

Court delays hearing evictees suit

JAKARTA: The opening session of a civil lawsuit filed by
evicted residents from Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, was put back
to Dec. 4 as the court had yet to receive the lawyers' letters of
appointment, and that the defendants failed to turn up.

Presiding judge Aritonga of the West Jakarta District Court
ordered the lawyers to sort out the problem.

The residents are accusing Agustina Munawar, who claims she
owns 12 hectares of land in the area known as Kampung Sawah, of
arbitrarily evicting them with the help of the West Jakarta
Municipality and hired thugs on October.

Zainal Arifin, the lawyer for Gerald Tuga Faber, whose client
claims ownership of 400 hectares of vacated land in the same
area, said that the Faber clan wished to be joined as plaintiffs.

"We want Agustina Munawar to retract her claim to the land
because my client has valid ownership documents for the land,
including the part she claims is hers," Zainal said. -- JP