JP/5/EDWIN

JP/5/EDWIN

Court rejects appeal by PTDI executive

Yuli Tri Suwarni
The Jakarta Post/Bandung

President director of aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia
(PTDI), Edwin Soedarmo, could no longer escape justice after his
appeal was turned down by the Bandung District Court on Thursday.

The appeal was a last ditch effort by Edwin, who was earlier
sentenced by the same court to two months in jail for negligence
in January this year. Following the verdict at the lower court,
Edwin filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to fight the
verdict, but the appeal was rejected because the Supreme Court
will not rule on a case in which a defendant is sentenced to less
than a year in jail. The case was, however, sent back to the
district court for a decision on the appeal, which it rejected.

"The district court rejected the appeal on the grounds that
the defendant had been proven guilty of disobeying orders from
the Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes," said judge
Marni Mustafa while reading the verdict. The second reason, the
judge added, was because the defendant never appeared in court,
which showed disrespect.

Soon after the decision was read out, some 800 former workers
at the aircraft company cheered and hugged each other to express
their joy over the verdict.

The prolonged dispute began on Jan. 14 this year after the
district court sentenced the president director for failing to
obey an order from the Committee for the Settlement of the Labor
Disputes, which instructed Edwin to pay severance pay to
thousands of former PTDI workers, totaling approximately Rp 400
billion (US$40.8 million). However, the company never paid the
money as ordered by the committee, which led the workers to
report Edwin to the legal authorities.

Over 6,500 PTDI workers were laid off last year due to the
company's financial troubles, which triggered a prolonged labor
dispute. More than 5,700 workers accepted the layoff, while the
remaining 800 workers rejected it and filed an appeal with the
Supreme Court.

With the verdict by the Bandung District Court, it is up to
the police and prosecutor's office to execute the verdict.

Secretary to PTDI, Mohtar Syarief, said that the verdict was
unfair. The district court should not have been able to come to a
verdict in the absence of the defendant, he argued.