Hearing canceled in student no-show

JAKARTA (JP): A pretrial hearing in a wrongful arrest suit filed by an Indonesian Christian University student against the Jakarta Police was postponed on Wednesday due to the absence of plaintiff, who remains in police custody.

Presiding judge Sultan Mangun adjourned the session at the South Jakarta District Court until Thursday and ordered the city police to bring plaintiff Rudi Pahala Simatupang Siburian to court.

"We will again request that the police bring the plaintiff here on Thursday to proceed in the lawsuit," Sultan said.

Dozens of members of student group City Forum staged a demonstration in the court compound, demanding the release of Rudi and fellow UKI student Edward Taurus B. Karo-karo.

Edward has filed a similar lawsuit. His pretrial hearing is scheduled on Friday.

The men are demanding compensation of more than Rp 1 billion (US$133,333) each for material and nonmaterial losses.

Sultan opened the trial at about 10 a.m. but the plaintiff's attorneys, calling themselves the Student Movement Advocating Team, refused to enter the courtroom because of Rudi's absence.

Hotma Timbul Hutapea, one of the lawyers, said the legal team represented the student in filing the lawsuit but not in the court room.

Hotma said the student should read the lawsuit himself under legal procedures, necessitating his court appearance.

"It seems the police are trying to make the pretrial procedures difficult," he said. (jun)