Court rejects Ratna's lawsuit against police

JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta District Court rejected lawsuits filed against the police by stage actress Ratna Sarumpaet and five other people for alleged illegal arrest and detention during a hearing yesterday.

Judges said the plaintiffs' arrest and detention was legal and dismissed the late issue of the necessary warrants as an insignificant administrative triviality.

Under the Indonesian legal system, warrants must be issued within 24 hours of the arrest taking place. Ratna and the other plaintiffs were arrested at 10.30 a.m. and received arrest and detention warrants at 7.30 p.m the following day.

Ratna, her daughter Fathom Saulina, lawyer Alexius Surya Tjahaya Tomu, reporter Ging Ginanjar, student activist Nandang Wirakusumah and art worker Jul Taher were attempting to bring the police to account for this oversight.

They are among nine people arrested on March 10 for attending an Indonesian People's Summit in Putri Duyung Cottage, Ancol, North Jakarta.

Judge Soeparto said in the ruling that the court agreed with the police argument that Ratna had been caught red-handed committing a crime and did therefore not require an arrest warrant.

"The late issue of arrest warrants was an insignificant administrative mistake and did not make their detention illegal", he said.

Wearing a black dress, Ratna, who wrote the play Marsinah Menggugat (Marsinah Protests), rose and tried to interrupt the judge when she heard the ruling, but Soeparto quickly banged his gavel and closed the trial.

Dozens of Ratna's supporters, including former chief editor of the weekly Tempo magazine Goenawan Mohamad and human rights campaigner H.J.C. Princen, chanted slogans of support and booed the judges.

"The trial was unfair," shouted a sympathizer.

Ratna, surrounded by police officers, attempted to question how the judge could find the plaintiffs' actions to be criminal. They claim to have canceled the meeting, sung the national anthem and said prayers.

"I can't understand why judges consider late issue of arrest warrants to be an insignificant administrative mistake", she said.

Police dragged Ratna out of the courtroom on their commander's order, despite protests from Petrus Balapattyona, one of Ratna's lawyers. The officers ignored Petrus' demand to let Ratna finish speaking, arguing the trial was already closed.

Petrus said the judge had taken the law into his own hands.

"Never sing Indonesia Raya because it could be considered a crime," the emotional lawyer shouted at scores of visitors in the public gallery.

Hendardi, executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) which was representing Ratna and the other plaintiffs, regretted the judges decision, saying that it could prompt further violations of the law by police.

"In the future, the police may issue warrants nine days after an arrest and the judge will be able to say that it was only an administrative error", Hendardi said.

Hendardi said the plaintiffs would appeal to the Supreme Court over the decision.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement yesterday that the American government continues to expect that the Indonesian people will be able to exercise their rights, including freedom of association, assembly and expression of thought.

Earlier reports said the PBHI had asked the embassy's first secretary for political affairs, Edmund F. McWilliams, who was present at the controversial summit, to appear as a witness in the trial. The request was turned down.

The embassy argued it would be inappropriate for a diplomat to become involved in the trial, which was an internal Indonesian affair. (jun)