Court hears Ratna's lawsuit against police

JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta District Court belatedly heard lawsuits yesterday filed by popular stage actress Ratna Sarumpaet and five other people against police officers they accuse of arresting them illegally.

On Monday, the same court refused to hear the cases brought by the six plaintiffs' lawyers on the grounds that the police had not let the plaintiffs attend the hearing.

Five of the plaintiffs -- Ratna, reporter Ging Ginanjar, lawyer Alexius Surya Tjahaya Tomu and activists Nandang Wirakusumah and Jul Taher -- arrived at the court in a police detention van at 1:30 p.m.

The sixth plaintiff, Ratna's daughter, Fathom Saulina, who had been released on her father's request, arrived on time in the morning.

Scores of people, including relatives of the plaintiffs, and dozens of police officers and plainclothes officials flocked to the court in the morning. The session was scheduled to open at 10 a.m.

The six plaintiffs were among nine people who were arrested on Feb. 10 for holding the so-called Indonesian People's Summit in a hotel in Ancol, North Jakarta.

The plaintiffs are suing the North Jakarta Police Chief and the City Police chief over their arrest and detention.

Wearing a black dress, Ratna read her lawsuit to the session which was presided over by Judge Soeparto. She insisted that her arrest and detention were illegal.

She said the North Jakarta Police chief did not give her an arrest warrant.

"I'm the police chief. I don't need a warrant," Ratna quoted the police chief as saying when officers were arresting her. "It violated the law," she added.

Ratna, whose play Marsinah Menggugat (Marsinah (a dead workers' rights activist) Protests) was banned in several cities, said the warrant and detention order were given after she had been detained for more than 24 hours. This, she argued, was in violation of Article 19 of the Criminal Code Procedures.

She asked the court to state that the arrest and detention by the police were illegal and demanded that she be released from detention.

She also demanded that the court should order police to admit to the illegal arrest and announce it in print media and on television.

The other five plaintiffs had the same demands.

The police, represented by three lawyers, rejected the lawsuits, saying that the arrests and detentions were legal.

Ali Alosarila, one of the police lawyers, said that the plaintiffs were caught red-handed so an arrest warrant was not necessary.

He said the police had given the detainees the arrest and detention warrants less than 24 hours after the arrests but the plaintiffs had refused to receive them.

Three judges -- Soeparto, Ismail L. and Pandapotan Sinaga -- adjourned the hearing to today to hear the plaintiffs' reaction to the police's statement.

"I asked the police to bring the plaintiffs here tomorrow. It's should be considered a court decision. We will not send the police a letter again for that," Soeparto told the lawyers.

The plaintiffs and their lawyers asked the court to order the police to bring the plaintiffs on time in the morning.

Ratna wanted to read an additional statement but was disappointed after Soeparto, who had promised to give time to her, refused to hear it and closed the day's proceedings.

She said that she did not intend to corner the police through the lawsuit and stressed that she was just following the law. "I just want the law to be respected in the country. Everybody, including the police, can make mistakes," she added.

The plaintiffs are being charged under Article 5 of Law No. 5/1963 on political related activities which carries a maximum punishment of five years in jail. (jun)