District court rejects lawsuit reclaiming Pramoedya's house

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court rejected on Tuesday a lawsuit filed by the wife of writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer who is seeking to reclaim their house in East Jakarta.

In her lawsuit, Maemunah Thamrin said her house in Rawamangun subdistrict was seized by the military in 1965 after her husband was detained and later sent to Buru Island for hard labor.

Pramoedya was one of thousands of people sent to the prison island in Maluku for of their association with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) which was outlawed in 1966.

Presiding Judge Abas Soemantri dismissed the lawsuit and said the plaintiff had wrongly identified the Ministry of Defense and Security as the defendant.

"The Ministry of Defense and Security had nothing to do with the takeover" but was the responsibility of the Jakarta Military Command.

The property is now privately owned by relatives of the late Lt. Col. Rahmat Sidarto, a former officer of the Jakarta Military Command.

Besides demanding the house's return, Maemunah also sought Rp 450 million ($90,000) compensation.

Judge Abas cited a 1966 military decree, which is still in force, which states property which belonged to people arrested because of links with the PKI, are the responsibility of the local military command.

Maemunah had argued she had been the owner of the house and therefore the ruling did not apply.

Mohamad Ali Rozal, lawyer representing Pramoedya's wife said he would appeal to the Supreme Court. (16)