District court rejects 'yellowization'case

District court rejects 'yellowization'case

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Semarang District Court ruled last week
it did not have the authority to try the lawsuit filed by local
branches of the United Development Party (PPP) against Central
Java Governor Suwardi for his "yellowization" drive.

The court suggested the lawsuit be taken to a state
administrative court.

Representatives of seven PPP branches accused Suwardi of
"arbitrarily painting public objects in yellow as a way to force
public support for Golkar". Suwardi had also failed to solicit
the approval of the provincial legislative council before
launching the "yellowization" drive.

"The governor has disregarded the people's representatives,
and this is something that has to be fought," said Mudrick S.M.
Sangidoe of PPP Surakarta who initiated the legal battle.

He said he had requested in January that Suwardi revoke his
instruction. Suwardi said that as the sole power holder in
Central Java, he attained the right to paint public facilities
yellow.

The PPP branches retaliated by repainting various objects
white, including the Grand Mosque of Surakarta. Suwardi, his
regents and mayors, repainted the facilities yellow.

The color war became a source of contention and amusement for
many people. "The winner in this battle is the paint producers,"
some said.

Mudrick and his colleagues from Klaten, Boyolali, Wonogiri,
Karanganyar and Sukoharjo went to court and sued the governor.
Their lawyers, led by Busyro Muqqadas, accused the governor of
ill intent by ignoring the PPP protest on "yellowization".

The lawyers also demanded Rp 7 billion (US$2.9 million) in
compensation. "If we win, we'll spend the money on the poor,"
Mudrick said.

The compensation became a source of speculation. It was the
same amount of money Suwardi spent for the construction of his
official residence, much to the chagrin of the local legislators
who had fought against it.

Muqqadas believes the governor should have respected the
rights of the three poll contenders. Suwardi was clearly
supporting Golkar and discriminating against PPP and the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

But the governor's legal counsel, Wisnu Baroto, told the
Semarang District Court that painting public objects yellow was
not a crime.

Suwardi has been charged more than once. There is the case of
Kedungombo, filed by villagers whose land was appropriated for
dam construction. There is also the ongoing suit filed by 643
Yogyakarta citizens enraged at his recent suggestion that the
sultanate town be integrated into Central Java.

His subordinate, the mayor of Surakarta, Imam Soetopo, is
currently facing a lawsuit for painting public objects inside the
Surakarta palace yellow. The suit was filed by a number of abdi
dalem or the traditional employees and servants of the palace,
including soothsayer Permadi.

Representation

The lawsuits against Suwardi and his subordinate are but a few
in the increasing number of suits against the government. When
the public is unable to sue the government, it is government
"representation" that is sued.

The ousted chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI),
Megawati Soekarnoputri, instructed her supporters to wage a legal
battle against government-backed Soerjadi, and his supporters.

But Megawati has not fared well in her legal war. Out of the
22 lawsuits already processed in court, her camp won only two,
namely those tried in the Bekasi and Denpasar district courts.
Other lawsuits filed by her and her supporters have yet to be
processed.

Launching legal action against the government is not easy,
especially if one does it alone. Former chief of Sariharjo
village in Sleman, Central Java, Moch. Irsjadi, learned this the
hard way.

He sued the provincial administration because the governor
canceled his appointment as the village chief. The governor cited
Irsjadi's "troubled marriage" as the reason not to swear him in.

Irsjadi was enraged. "I was elected in a democratic manner. I
passed all the tests given by the government, I passed special
screening (to clear one from past communist links). Not
installing me was an arbitrary act," he said.

Irsjadi won the lawsuit he filed with the Semarang State
Administrative Court and the provincial High Administrative
Court.

Suwardi appealed the ruling, and later "defeated" Irsjadi in
the Sleman District Court, accusing him of dishonesty when he
applied for the position of village chief. The governor said
Irsjadi's high school diploma was fake.

Intimidation

Others who found it difficult to take the government to court
were five Sraten villagers in Sukoharjo, Central Java. Sembodo
and his friends refused the compensation offered by the local
administration for their land appropriated for the road project
connecting Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

The villagers were accused of being "communists" and became
the target of intimidation and terror.

"We had asked for compensation of Rp 70,000 (US29) for every
square meter of land and building appropriated, but the local
government only wanted to pay us Rp 1,000," Sembodo said.

Several farmers gave up and received whatever compensation was
offered by the local administration, but Sembodo and the
remaining four persisted and sued Sukoharjo Regent Setiawan
Sadono. The Yogyakarta Legal Aid gave the farmers legal
assistance.

Legal Aid lawyer, Ari Suseta, said an out-of-court settlement
was finally reached. The Sukoharjo District Court ruled recently
that the regent had no right to force the farmers into selling
their land, and the land price had to be negotiated.

"That's a lesson for administrators who like to act
arbitrarily," Ari said.

A political law expert at the Islamic University of Indonesia
in Yogyakarta, Moh. Mahfud, said Indonesians have become more
critical and aware of their legal rights, which is why they now
dare to sue the government.

"The government needs to accept this development, rather than
force its will on the court. Dissatisfaction will grow if a case
that should have won turned out to lose," he said.

"Dissatisfied people may be driven to vent off steam in many
ways, in ways not even the government could control," he said.
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