Hearing adjourned, flood victims disappointed

Hearing adjourned, flood victims disappointed

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Flood victims who filed a class action suit against the
President, Jakarta governor and West Java governor were
disappointed on Wednesday as the first hearing was postponed due
to a lack of understanding of procedures by defense lawyers.

Presiding judge Kornel Sianturi of the Central Jakarta
District Court said the trial was adjourned for two weeks as
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's lawyers did not have proper
power of attorney credentials and the West Java governor A.R.
Nuriana failed entirely to send any representatives to the court.

Upon hearing the decision, about one hundred flood victims who
had crammed the courtroom booed and jeered. Many of them
expressed their disappointment at the lack of seriousness shown
by national leaders of their plight.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, the coordinator for the advocacy team
for Jakarta flood victims, criticized the authorities for paying
little attention and not responding to the flood victims' outcry.

Two state prosecutors, Tambok Nainggolan and Tuksir, were
present at the court as the defense lawyers representing the
President.

But when judge Sianturi asked them to present their power of
attorney documents from the President, they could not come up
with them.

Tigor raised an objection, saying they did not have the right
to be in the court room.

"You have heard what the lawyer said. You need to leave the
room at once" the judge said.

The two obeyed the order without protest.

Governor Sutiyoso was represented by lawyer Yan Juanda
Saputra.

The plaintiffs' lawyers also protested because Juanda had
failed to register the authorized letter to the court clerk
before the trial.

Meanwhile, there is no news from Nuriana or his
representatives.

Outside the courtroom, Tambok told reporters that they only
had a "verbal" order to represent the President from the State
Secretary.

"We only received a verbal order from the State Secretary to
come ... ," he said.

The flood victims filed a lawsuit on March 13, demanding
compensation of more than Rp 1.2 trillion (US$125 million) for
the immaterial and material damages and losses caused by the
recent floods.

The authorities were blamed mainly for their failure to give
early warning information and provide necessary emergency
response prompting more than 97,000 families or 365,000 people to
leave their homes and take shelter for weeks.

"If they provided early warning information and immediate
response in support of the residents, the losses could have been
greatly mitigated," said one of the lawyers, Tubagus Haryo
Karbyanto of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

Erni, a resident of Kampung Sawah, Rawa Malang, North Jakarta
said she attended the trial with great interest.

"I hope we'll win and get compensation. I need money for
working capital to restart my destroyed poultry breeding
business," said Erni, who came to the court along with her baby.
Her husband works as freelance porter at Tanjung Priok port.

The plaintiffs' team of lawyers consisting of 32 pro bono
lawyers will face top-notch lawyers hired by Sutiyoso - Mohammad
Assegaf, Yan Juanda Saputra, and R.E. Abikusno.

Both Assegaf and Yan are known for their work with high
profile clients.

Nainggolan had criticized Sutiyoso's decision to hire
expensive lawyers instead of assigning the city administration's
legal bureau to handle the case. He also questioned the source of
the money to pay them, creating speculation among observers that
city budget funds may have been misallocated for his own defense.