Inadequate evidence to try Soemarjono, claim lawyers

SURABAYA (JP): Lawyers for Col. (ret) Soemarjono in their written rebuttal before the court maintained that there was insufficient evidence to charge their client for producing and distributing counterfeit money totaling Rp 4.2 billion.

Lawyer Adang Abdullah, speaking on behalf of the team of lawyers comprising Widjaja, Burhanuddin and himself, spent 30 minutes reading the rebuttal before the court on Monday and demanded his client be exonerated.

Quoting article 184 and 185 of the Criminal Code Procedures (KUHAP), Adang said during the second hearing that the court needed at least two pieces of evidence to continue the trial of his client in a fair and just manner.

In the first hearing last Monday, prosecutor Donny Kadnezar said the defendant and his close associates Hadi Suwito and Slamet Hardjo violated Article 224 of the Criminal Code on counterfeit money.

The prosecutor said the defendant deserved a 15-year jail term for the offense.

Soemarjono was responsible for the distribution and production of bogus Rp 50,000 notes, the prosecutor said. "The fake notes were produced at his houses on Jl. Melati in Pesanggrahan, South Jakarta, and Jl. Bintaro Utama Raya, Tangerang."

Lawyer Adang said all the material evidence made available to the court was from the witnesses, who were also defendants in other separate trials. "None of the evidence was from Soemarjono's hands," Adang said.

"The two boxes containing bogus Rp 50,000 notes bearing former president Soeharto's picture were confiscated by the police from a witness' residence in Cakung, Jakarta, on March 15. Another two bundles of fake notes were seized from another witness' house," Adang said.

The lawyer also accused the police of treating his client improperly during investigation process. "Soemarjono was said to be a liar after undergoing a lie-detector test. This has damaged the reputation of our client."

Adang said his client was honorable, as proven by the conferring of three Satya Lencana Kesetiaan awards for his loyalty during his 24-year career in the military.

"He also did notable work when he brought the Indonesian Thomas Cup (badminton) team to win the prestigious trophy in Kuala Lumpur in May," he said.

The second court hearing was apparently less appealing to public, judging from the fact that only five visitors and 10 reporters attended the session.

Prosecutor Kadnezar asked the panel of judges for a week to prepare his reply to the lawyers' rebuttal. (nur/sur)