Judge's letter not last word: Oetojo

Judge's letter not last word: Oetojo

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said yesterday
that a letter written by Supreme Court Chief Justice Soerjono,
purportedly overruling the court's earlier decision to award an
Irianese man Rp 18.6 billion (US$8.5 million) in a land dispute
with the government, was not final.

"The execution of the supreme court's verdict will mainly
depend on the head of the Jayapura District Court, as the
executor," Oetojo said after installing several middle level
officials at his office yesterday.

"The head of the Jayapura district court has the authority to
obey or ignore Soerjono's letter," he said, adding that
Soerjono's letter served only as a "guideline" and did not alter
the supreme court's verdict which, he said, was already in
effect.

Soerjono has been criticized this month for purportedly
reversing the verdict of the supreme court, which was made in
1992. He said in the letter that one of the defendants was not a
public legal body "which has its own property".

The judge has been the focus of the controversy since he sent
a "personal" letter to the district court of Jayapura early this
month in which he said that the verdict favoring the plaintiff,
Hanoch Hebe Ohee, could not be executed.

The dispute, over a 62 hectare plot of land located about 30
kilometers from the Sentani Airport, began in 1984 when Ohee
sought to regain the property from the Irian government.

Ohee, who has spent no less than Rp 1 billion ($450,000) on
the 10 year legal wrangle, claims that the property is communal
land belonging to his clan since the 1940s.

He won the legal battle at the district court level in July,
1985. After losing an appeal to the high court, the provincial
government appealed to the supreme court in 1988 and lost again.

Oetojo said yesterday that, according to law, the supreme
court has the authority to control the all courts and to give
warnings to the courts.

He declined to respond to reporters' questions on the
likelihood of the Jayapura district court having the courage to
ignore Soerjono's letter, saying "that is another problem."

The National Commission on Human Rights, the Indonesian Youth
National Committee, students from the University of Indonesia and
legal observers have all demanded that Soerjono revoke his
letter.

"The many institutions and individuals asking for the
revocation of Soerjono's letter is an indication of the people's
increasing concern over law enforcement in the country," Oetojo
said.

Irian Jaya Governor Yacob Pattipi said separately that he was
very satisfied with Soerjono's letter.

"I am satisfied with the contents of Soerjono's letter because
I believe the land dispute is not my problem, but the state's,"
he said.

"It is the prerogative of the supreme court to reject or
accept my proposal."

Yesterday, attacks on Soerjono continued. The latest criticism
came from the Indonesian Bar Association (IKADIN), which said
that Soerjono had no right to retract the decision.

"According to the law on the supreme court of 1985, the chief
justice does not have the authority to reinterpret and reevaluate
final decisions of the supreme court," IKADIN chairman Harjono
Tjitrosoebono said in a statement made available to The Jakarta
Post.

IKADIN urged Soerjono to revoke his letter.

"Soerjono is much sneered at because he exercised an authority
which actually belongs to the legislative body," Harjono said. He
added that he feared the chief justice would repeat the "mistake"
in the future.

Harjono said personal letters like Soerjono's were not even
mentioned in the law on the supreme court and were therefore
contrary to the Indonesian legal system.

"The chief justice should withdraw his letter," he said,
adding that the only institution which had the authority to alter
the law was the House of Representatives, he said.

Harjono said that the governor of Irian Jaya, as a government
official, had dual functions, as an individual and as a
government official.

"The Irian Jaya governor acts as a government official and
therefore has property," he said. (imn)