Court turns down Buddhist lawsuit
Court turns down Buddhist lawsuit
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta State Administrative Court has
rejected a lawsuit filed by two Buddhist denominations against
the government for endorsing the Indonesian Buddhist Council's
decision to expel them.
The court ruling to dismiss the lawsuit after three hearings
was announced by the Indonesian Buddhist Council (Walubi) and
reported by Antara yesterday.
The two Buddhist sects, Majelis Buddhayana Indonesia (MBI) and
Sangha Agung Indonesia (Sagin), have called the government's
decision to support Walubi's move to expel them interference in
the affairs of the Buddhist community.
The sects also named Walubi as a defendant and demanded that
the court order the council to overturn their expulsion.
They said the Director General for Hindu and Buddhist Affairs
I Ketut Pasek did not have any right to intervene in Walubi's
internal affairs.
"The director general, as the patron of Walubi, is supposed to
help solve the dispute in Walubi's executive board," the head of
the Youth Department of MBI, Lieus Sungkharisma, who represents
the two plaintiffs, said in the lawsuit.
He also said that the director general was not supposed to
take sides in the dispute within the board.
Walubi did not state the reason given by the court in its
ruling.
The lawsuit, filed in December, came after a long battle for
the leadership of Walubi between the various Buddhist sects in
the country.
The Jakarta State Administrative Court had earlier ordered the
government to suspend the expulsion of the two denominations
pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
Lieus yesterday said he had not been formally informed about
court ruling. "I will go to the Jakarta State Administrative
Court next Monday to obtain the court's decision," he told The
Jakarta Post yesterday.
"We probably will file an appeal against the court's
dismissal," he added.
He said that the court's dismissal came as a surprise to
followers of the two denominations. "It is strange that the court
could decide to accept the lawsuit only to dismiss it after three
hearings. (imn)