Heckling, demonstrating continue in student trial
Heckling, demonstrating continue in student trial
JAKARTA (JP): Heckling and demonstrating continued at the
trials yesterday of 12 National University students charged with
assault and brawling.
Judge Moegihardjo of South Jakarta District Court opened the
first session at 10:45 a.m. by letting prosecutor H.P. Silitonga
counter the statements of Luhut Pangaribuan, one of the lawyers
from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, who represents six of the
12 students being tried for assault in two separate trials.
The six defendants are Benedictus Satrio Widyanarto, Yahdi
Jamhur, Rakai Aria Dipa Erlangga, Darmawan, Budi Murdiyanto and
Reza Pahlevi.
Prosecutor Silitonga told the judge that Luhut's earlier
statement that the indictment was legally inadequate because the
defendants were not accompanied by their lawyers during police
questioning had no legal basis.
"Your Honor, the police had asked the defendants during the
questioning session whether they need their lawyers present," the
prosecutor said. He did not say whether the students waived their
right to have a lawyer present.
In the previous trial, Luhut said that prosecutor Silitonga's
indictment should be legally annulled because it was not based on
the Criminal Procedure Code.
The prosecutor asked the judge to ignore the accusation since
his indictment contained all factors demanded by the code.
The six defendants are among 12 students -- all members of the
Association of Nature Lovers -- who are accused of intentionally
assaulting four members of the university's student regiment and
of burning the regiment's headquarters on Oct. 18 last year.
The alleged attack came after regiment members reportedly
destroyed the association's secretariat.
Shortly after Judge Moegihardjo ended the first session, the
six defendants grabbed their lawyers' mike and made a speech
condemning the existence of the student regiment.
The defendants, who wore black T-shirts with anti-student
regiment illustrations, shouted, "We want justice" and "Ban the
student regiment from campus."
Their screams were applauded by observers of the court
proceedings who resorted to heckling during the session.
The wardens immediately took the defendants to their cells, while
around 20 mobile brigade officers stayed on the alert for any
further demonstration of displeasure at the court proceedings.
In yesterday's trial sessions Judge Moegihardjo ordered all
court observers who did not have a seat to wait outside the
courtroom. His decision did little to prevent the remaining
observers from heckling him during the court proceedings.
In the session of the trial for the other six students,
prosecutor Hasan Madani countered two teams of defense lawyers.
The first team consisted of lawyers from the Indonesian
Advocate Association (AAI), who represented Agus Heryana Anirun
and Wahyu Sugito. The second was from the Jakarta Legal Aid
Foundation who represented Syech Al Djufri Abu Bakar, Kusnadi
Darisan, Sudrajat Trisna and Indra Mulia Ismet Kamil.
Prosecutor Hasan told the judge that he disagreed with the
request of the lawyers from the advocates association, who asked
the judge to postpone the trial until after the court finished
examining the members of the student regiment because it was the
regiment members who started the attack.
"I could not accept such a statement because the arraignment
of a party is not dependent on other people's guilt," Hasan said.
Hasan tried to assure the lawyers that the dossiers of the
regiment members are already at the South Jakarta Prosecutors
Office and they are also to be tried.
Hasan then said that he regretted the maneuvers of the lawyers
from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation who stated that the arrest
of the defendants was illegal.
"The illegality of an arrest should not be used as a factor to
declare that an indictment is legally inadequate because such a
matter should be brought into the pretrial examination," Hasan
said.
Emotional arguments between Moegihardjo and the defendants
occurred in the second session when the judge refused to allow
one of them to express his stance.
The judge adjourned the trial session until Feb. 7.
Shortly after Moegihardjo ended the court session, hundreds of
the students' supporters also held a demonstration condemning the
existence of the student regiment on their campus.
The existence of student regiments at various universities has
been questioned, following reports of brawls involving regiment
members on several campuses. (mas)