Gloom prevails at students' trials

Gloom prevails at students' trials

JAKARTA (JP): Gloom replaced commotion at the trials of 21
students charged with defaming President Soeharto at the Central
Jakarta District Court yesterday.

The news that the mother of one of the defendants had passed
away expressed itself in the form of silent courtrooms, which in
the past were used as platforms to launch scathing attacks on the
government.

All 21 were clad in black when they turned up for their
hearings.

"Why are you all wearing black?" asked Judge Sutrisno, who
presided at the trial, apparently unaware of the death.

"We don't mean to disturb the hearing by wearing black
attire, your Honor. It is because we heard of the death of Adi's
mother yesterday. We ask you to adjourn the trial," Masduki,
speaking on behalf of the defendants, told the judge.

The request was granted and the trials were adjourned until
April 9.

The court also agreed to allow the bereaved Adi Kurniawan to
visit his father and his mother's grave in Probolinggo.

His mother passed away on March 12, but he was only informed
about it last Monday, according to lawyers representing the
students.

Frans Hendra Winarta, one of the lawyers said the defendant's
father had intentionally kept Adi in the dark, fearing that the
news would come as a shock to him.

It was his sister who informed him through a letter sent to
the Salemba detention center, where he has been kept since his
arrest last December.

"I believe that the death of Adi's mother has more or less
something to do with the trial," said Frans.

Adi, a student at Darul Ulum University in Jombang, East Java,
is in the group of four whom the prosecution says are the worst
offenders in the defamation case. The other three are Masduki,
Yeni Rosa Damayanti and Hendrik Dikson Sirait.

The other 17 students are being tried in groups of six and 11.

Defendants and observers at the three sessions held a minute
of silence to pay their respects to Adi's mother.

The charges against the 21 rose out of a protest at the House
of Representatives last December in which they attacked the
President's record.

The students demanded that Soeharto face an emergency session
by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to account for his
leadership.

Meanwhile, security was looser at the court yesterday, in
apparent reply to the defendants' protest against the security
presence at the proceedings. Benches were also provided outside
the court rooms to accommodate hundreds of supporters. (par)