JP/8/G03

JP/8/G03

JAKARTA: A non-governmental organization monitoring the
country's judicial processes demanded on Saturday that the
Attorney General's Office change the composition of its team of
ad hoc prosecutors assigned to human rights trials to ensure that
fair trials would take place.

Judicial Watch cast doubt over the impartiality of the 22
state prosecutors sworn in last week due to the presence of two
active military personnel in the team, which it said would be bad
publicity for the whole trial process.

"The Attorney General's Office should replace the military
prosecutors with senior civil prosecutors who have the integrity
and the commitment to uphold human rights," said the watchdog's
chairman A. Muhammad Asrun in a statement over the weekend.

The group also said that many of the civil prosecutors
included in the team had dubious track records, while several had
ignored the principles of justice in making indictments.

Judicial Watch suggested that the Attorney General's Office
establish an expert team consisting of academics and legal
experts as consultants to the team of adhoc prosecutors. -- JP