Judges rule to try subversion cases

Judges rule to try subversion cases

JAKARTA (JP): The judges trying labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan
and nine leaders of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) ruled
yesterday to continue their hearings, despite objections from
defense lawyers.

The 10 are charged under the 1963 antisubversion law for
activities which the government says undermines it and the state
ideology, Pancasila.

They are being tried in six hearings at the Central Jakarta
and South Jakarta district courts.

The judges rejected the appeals of the defendants' lawyers
that the charges were obscure.

The panels of judges trying the cases all had the same answer:
the charges "are accurate, clear and complete".

In each of the six hearings, the lawyers immediately announced
that they will appeal against these decisions.

Pakpahan, the 43-year-old chairman of the Indonesian
Prosperous Labor Union, is accused of undermining the government
and sowing hatred through a book he wrote and a series of
speeches he made in Indonesia and in Lisbon in the last two
years. The book, Potret Negara Indonesia (Portrait of Indonesia),
is banned.

Pakpahan's lawyers have said the court did not have the
authority to try any one's critical thoughts.

But judge M. Djazuli, who is trying Pakpahan's case,
disagreed.

"What's being tried here is not his critical thoughts, but his
activities. Whether or not they were subversive, the court will
decide based on the hearings," Djazuli said.

The charges against PRD chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko and eight
other party members relate to their activities, also dating back
to two years. They include organizing labor protests and public
speeches critical of the government.

The prosecutors cited PRD's adoption of social democratic
principles rather than the Pancasila in its statutes.

Although the government officially recognizes only three
political parties, it has never outlawed the PRD.

Other PRD leaders on trial are Garda Sembiring, Yakobus Eko
Kurniawan, Ignatius Damianus Pranowo, Suroso, Petrus Hariyanto,
Ken Budha Kusumandaru, Victor Da Costa and Ignatius Arintoko.

Budiman, Sembiring, Yakobus, Pranowo and Suroso are being
tried at the Central Jakarta District Court. The others are being
tried at the South Jakarta District Court.

All the trials will resume on Jan. 6, except Petrus' trial on
Jan. 2 and Pakpahan's on Jan. 9.

The antisubversion law carries a maximum penalty of death.

In calling for acquittals, the defendants and their lawyers
have argued that the law was enacted in 1963 by then president
Sukarno to secure his socialist revolution and therefore was no
longer relevant today.

The judges dismissed this argument yesterday, saying the law
was "positive legislation".

The law has been the subject of contentious debate among the
country's legal experts. The National Commission on Human Rights
called for its repeal this year.

All 10 defendants were arrested following the July 27 riots in
Central Jakarta. The military blamed them for inciting the unrest
through their speeches.

Their indictments however contained no such accusations. They
only said that, in the case of the PRD suspects, "they were among
the crowd on July 27".

The National Commission on Human Rights said the riots left at
least five people dead and 23 others missing. (08)