Gus Dur to stand trial soon

Gus Dur to stand trial soon

JAKARTA (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the powerful Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), will soon stand trial for allegedly slandering his rival Abu Hasan, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Assistant for general crimes at the Jakarta Prosecutors' Office, I Ketut Suwara, received the dossiers on Abdurrahman from the police on Tuesday. However, he could not say when the dossiers would be submitted to the Central Jakarta District Court.

"Hopefully soon," Suwara said, adding that Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, was present when M. Samosir Pakpahan and Syarif Bastaman of the National Police Headquarters presented the dossiers to the Prosecutors' Office.

Abu Hasan filed the complaint against Abdurrahman for reportedly making slanderous remarks about him.

In a meeting of NU leaders, Abdurrahman reportedly accused Abu of getting US$18 million in kickbacks from a seaport project in Jakarta.

Abu was Abdurrahman's stiffest contender in the organization's 1994 chairmanship election in Cipasung, West Java. He lost by a slim margin to Abdurrahman in the nearly-chaotic elections, which Abu later said were rigged.

The Prosecutors' Office has named J. Kamaru as chief prosecutor for the trial and Mawardi Amin, Suhaimi, Widya Pramono and M. Yusuf as assistants, Suwara said.

Suwara also said that his office had named witnesses for the trial, including Ilyas Ruchiyat and Sahal Mahfudz, respectively chairman and deputy chairman of the organization's policy making body.

The Jakarta Prosecutors' Office has returned dossiers of Abu's lawsuit to the police three times for being incomplete.

After he was excluded from Abdurrahman's board of leadership, Abu declared the establishment of a rival NU board in January last year.

Abdurrahman's board of leadership, which is recognized by the government, last month removed Abu Hasan and 16 supporters from various positions on central and regional boards and accused them of undermining the organization. (imn)