Disabled woman wins case against mayor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Being different does not only put people in the spotlight, sometimes it puts them in a court of law fighting discrimination against a powerful mayor.

For 32-year-old Wuri Handayani, who lives with a disability, won her lawsuit at the Surabaya State Administrative Court against the mayor, Bambang Dwihartono, in a case of discrimination, after his decree banned her from applying to become a civil servant.

The court verdict was issued on Wednesday by the panel presided over by Judge Ibrahim.

"We accept the suit against the mayor because he is responsible for the recruitment process of civil servants," Ibrahim said as quoted by Antara.

The judges however, cleared another defendant, the city's civil servant recruitment committee, "as it was simply doing its duty and obeying the mayor's edicts".

The court ruling effectively states that there was discrimination involved in denying Wuri the right to apply for a position as a civil servant.

The defendant claimed that a November 2004 letter that barred her, was based on a decree on recruitment procedures for civil servants in the city, which bans "unhealthy" candidates.

However, the judges ruled that the ban on Wuri, who is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair, was a direct violation of the 1945 Constitution.

It also breaches Law No. 4/1997 on the disabled as well as Law No. 13/2003 on manpower, they added. Law No. 4/1997 specifically states that the disabled must receive equal opportunities in all aspects of life.

The court also ordered the mayor to issue a new decree to allow the plaintiff to take part in exams for new civil servants in the next recruitment period.

The verdict was based on testimonies from three disabled people who had been accepted as civil servants in East Java.

The mayor's lawyer, Made Kusmana, said that his client would file an appeal and was given 14 days by the court to do so.

Wuri said that her victorious fight would be followed up by encouraging others at the National Disabled Convention scheduled on May 29 in Surabaya.

"This small effort will not be the end of the fight," she added. "But, I do hope that this could be the starting point for other people living with disabilities to fight for their rights."

Wuri's win in court received praise from many others, including East Java's Indonesian Disabled Association (PPCI) chairman Made Dharmika and Suparto Widjojo, who is a lecturer at Airlangga University, Surabaya.

"It's the first time that a disabled person won a lawsuit against a mayor and it will encourage other disabled people, who have been discriminated against professionally, economically or educationally, to file similar suits," Dharmika said, adding that the verdict shows that the disabled are not second-class citizens.

Last year, former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid sued the National Elections Commission (KPU) for discrimination after he was barred from running for president. But the partially blind former president lost the lawsuit and was not allowed to run.

Human rights activists have declared that the disabled are as "healthy" as other people and therefore using such requirements to deny them their rights is a form of discrimination.