Court rules against police

Court rules against police

JAKARTA: The South Jakarta District Court decided on Monday
that the arrest of two members of a Surakarta-based group by
Jakarta Police last month was unlawful.

Presiding judge Abdul Madjid said that Karmidi and Ahmad
Khoiri were arrested without a warrant and that police did not
find any weapons on them.

The judge said that on Oct. 13 at about 7:30 p.m., some 600
members of Surakarta Islam Defenders Front (FPIS) arrived at
Pasar Senen railway station in Central Jakarta to join
demonstrations against the U.S military strikes on Afghanistan.

At that time, the police arrested 66 people and detained them
at the Jakarta Police Headquarters until 11 a.m. the following
day.

The court also ordered Jakarta Police chief Gen. Insp. Sofjan
Jacoeb to give Rp 100,000 in compensation to each of the
plaintiffs. The amount was much less than the Rp 1 million
demanded by the defendants. Karmidi is a laborer while Ahmad is a
small scale trader.--JP