Jail sentences demanded for PDI demonstrators
Jail sentences demanded for PDI demonstrators
JAKARTA (JP): A state prosecutor requested the Court yesterday
to jail five supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted
Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party, for crashing into
a police barricade during an anti-government demonstration in
June.
The rally was held to protest the officially-backed PDI
congress in Medan, in which Soerjadi ousted Megawati as the party
leader.
According to Prosecutor Darwis Lubay, the defendants did not
only defy police orders to disperse, but also broke through
police ranks when the officers tried to block the way, going from
the Party headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, to the National
Monument.
The demonstrators planned to hold a mass prayer for Megawati,
but security officers stopped them near the Gambir Railway
Station, trying to disperse them.
The prosecutor sought one year's imprisonment for Herman
Susilo, 22, for pushing through police ranks with a motorcycle,
and stoning police. Edy Suwito bin Suyitno, 22, was arrested for
hurling stones at the officers.
The court was also asked to sentence Rajim, 46, and Sutrisno,
30, to nine months in jail for breaking the police barricade with
motorcycles, and Fauzan Nanang Prasetyo, 17, to seven months
imprisonment for the same offense as Herman, stoning police and
penetrating a police barricade with a motorcycle.
The session was adjourned until next week, giving lawyers time
to prepare defense statements. Defendant Sutrisno, facing a
possible nine months imprisonment, said he would read his own
statement, however his reasons were not made clear.
Meanwhile, a related court session heard the cases of 12
Megawati supporters, of a total number of 124 arrested, tried in
connection with the July 27 riot, with defense lawyer, R.O.
Tambunan, calling the trial a farce.
Tambunan, the chief of the team of lawyers naming themselves
Defenders of Indonesian Democracy, told the court his clients
were not being tried because they have committed crimes, but for
political reasons.
"They are tried because they are supporters of Megawati, whose
political career the government has tried to ruin." he said.
The incident erupted when Soerjadi's supporters seized the PDI
headquarters from Megawati's incumbents. The takeover sparked
bloody riot, in which five people were killed.
The ousted chairwoman was present at the court hearing
yesterday, apparently in a gesture to give personal support to
her followers.
Megawati, dressed in red and black, the party colors, was
accompanied by members of her executive board, and sister-in-law
Levana Taufan Soekarnoputra.
Tambunan said the current trials are only a deception of
government policy.
He reminded the panel of judges police officers did not try to
stop Soerjadi's supporters from attacking the headquarters. "They
even gave way to the assault which had been long prepared," he
maintained.
At the end of the defense statement, Tambunan expressed the
hope the judges would exercise their conscience.
"It's not because we, the defense lawyers, are skilled in the
legal profession, but the arrogance of corrupt political power
will show, because it smothers human endeavors for freedom," the
lawyer said, trying to hold back tears.
Veterinarian, Sukartono Widjojo Putro, one of the defendants,
told the court the defendants were actually the victims of attack
by Soerjadi's supporters.
"Why should we bear other's crime?" he asked, pointing out
most of the 124 defendants were injured, some seriously with
concussion and broken legs.
He said police should bring the attackers, who caused the
injury, to the court.
"They are the real people who were rampaging and causing the
riot," he stated. (05/07)