Ex-political prisoners lose court battle

Ex-political prisoners lose court battle

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Efforts by former political prisoners to seek justice for their
past suffering were dealt a setback on Wednesday by the Central
Jakarta District Court, which said it could not hear the class
action lawsuit.

Presiding judge Cicut Sutiarso told a hearing the plaintiffs,
many of whom were associated with the former Indonesian Communist
Party (PKI), should file their lawsuit with the Jakarta
Administrative Court because the case concerned government
policies. Under the law, the Administrative Court cannot hear
cases filed more than 10 days after a policy comes into effect.
Most of the former political prisoners were first jailed by a
policy that came into effect more than 30 years ago.

"Although the public has become more critical of government
policies, the panel of judges find the court has no competence to
hear the case in accordance with the law," Citut told a packed-
courtroom.

One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, Erna Ratnaningsih of
the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said she would challenge the
verdict at a higher court, because it was the only way to seek
justice for her clients.

"The (district) court has closed its door on justice seekers.
We are aware that the administrative court will not hear our case
because the law says a lawsuit against a government regulation or
policy must be filed 10 days after its issuance at the latest,"
she said.

The class action was filed earlier this year against President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessors Megawati
Soekarnoputri, Abdurrahman Wahid, B.J. Habibie and Soeharto by 16
people who were jailed for their association with the PKI, which
was banned following an abortive coup attempt in 1965.

Claiming to represent 20 million people who had been
stigmatized after being made political prisoners, the plaintiffs,
including noted author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, demanded the
government apologize and formally rehabilitate them. They also
sought between Rp 1 million and Rp 10 billion in damages for the
stigma they bore after imprisonment, which they said had robbed
them of personal belongings, job opportunities and political
rights.

Some of the plaintiffs said they did not receive pensions
after they were jailed despite their former status as civil
servants or soldiers or police officers. All were jailed without
trial.

The judges accepted the government's defense argument that the
lawsuit should be filed with the administrative court.

The government is currently selecting 21 members of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission, which is supposed to settle
alleged human rights abuses against the former political
prisoners.

Erna said the plaintiffs would keep fighting for justice
through the courts.

"We are on the right track. We are not questioning government
policies, but the injustice the plaintiffs have experienced and
material losses that this has entailed," Erna said.

One of the plaintiffs, Kasman Setiprawiro, 83, said he and
other former political prisoners refused to give up.

"As long as God takes our side, we will keep fighting. Our
struggle must not die," he said.

Kasman was jailed in the Nusakambangan maximum security prison
from 1965 to 1980 without ever having being tried for any
offense.

Upon his release he worked as an English translator as he did
not receive a pension as a former employee of the Ministry of
Forestry.