Court ruling shocks U.S. ambassador

Court ruling shocks U.S. ambassador

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce has expressed
disappointment over the Surabaya District Court's verdict handed
down to five individuals tried for breaking into the U.S.
Consulate General in Surabaya on Sept. 15 of last year.

In a letter sent to The Jakarta Post on Friday, Boyce said the
two-month jail sentence each of the five defendants were given
was extraordinarily light. In Thursday's hearing, the court
exonerated two of the ring leaders.

"These verdicts represent a terrible miscarriage of justice,"
the ambassador said. "The fact that an unruly mob was able to
break into a diplomatic establishment and damage property with
virtual impunity will severely damage the reputation of Surabaya
in particular, and Indonesia as a whole," he said.

Around 50 demonstrators, claiming to be from several youth
organizations, rallied at the U.S. Consulate General on Jl. Dr.
Sutomo, Surabaya, on Sept. 15, protesting what they claimed was
American intervention in Indonesia's internal affairs (East
Timor).

The youths gave speeches blasting U.S. threats to Indonesia
related to disarming the militias in West Timor. Some of them
eventually climbed the consulate general's fence, pulled down the
American flag and set it on fire.

Boyce said that Indonesia was bound by the Vienna Convention,
Article 31 on consular relations to protect diplomatic missions
and personnel.

Local law experts earlier said that there were no local laws
that cover malice by demonstrators, adding that as a result
Indonesia could face economic or diplomatic sanctions from
affected countries.

At the end of his letter, Boyce said that the Indonesian
judicial system was supposed to deter lawlessness, not condone
it. "We urge the Indonesian government and people to commit
themselves to the rule of law," Boyce said.`