Court fails to hear ex-prisoners' lawsuit

JAKARTA: Around 30 former political prisoners who were jailed for their alleged link to the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) filed a complaint with the Supreme Court over the stalled hearing of their lawsuit against the government.

Most of the protesters were over the age of 80.

Accompanied by their attorneys from the Legal Aid Institute, the group asked the Supreme Court to step in as the Central Jakarta District Court had adjourned the hearing since it opened in May.

A lawyer representing the former political prisoners, Asfinawati, said her clients turned up for a hearing earlier on Wednesday, but the judges delayed the session until Aug. 3 as the lawyers were not present. Asfinawati claimed the judges did not notify her team.

Some 200 former political prisoners, including noted author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, are suing the last five Indonesian presidents for the injustice they suffered after they were accused of involvement in the 1965 coup attempt blamed on the PKI. They are demanding Rp 12.4 billion (US$1.27 million) in damages. -- Antara