'Justice' delayed by toothache

'Justice' delayed by toothache

JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri's desperate quest for
justice in her fight to retain her leadership of the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) was held back yesterday -- by a toothache.

A court hearing of her petition at the Central Jakarta
District Court had to be adjourned because the chief judge who
was to try the case had a toothache.

Megawati had filed a civil lawsuit asking that the court
declare the government-sponsored PDI congress in Medan in June
illegal, and therefore its results void.

The suit names the government and Soerjadi, who was elected to
replace Megawati at the Medan congress, as co-defendants.

Yesterday's hearing, the first in the case, came in the wake
of the violent takeover of the PDI headquarters by supporters of
Soerjadi from Megawati supporters.

"The hearing is adjourned until Aug. 22, because Chief Judge I
Gede Ketut Sukarata has a toothache," Zulkifli Lubis, a member of
the panel of judges, declared as the hearing was opened.

To prove his point, Lubis showed a copy of the order by
dentist D. Gunawan of the Tamansari subdistrict in West Jakarta
ordering the judge to rest for three days.

Megawati was not present at the hearing. She was represented
by a team of lawyers led by R.O. Tambunan.

Alexander Litaay, the PDI secretary-general under Megawati who
remains loyal to her, was seen in the court.

The court announcement drew an angry response from Megawati
supporters who had packed the court room. Several hundred others
were waiting outside the court building, on the usually busy Jl.
Gajah Mada.

There was a strong presence of anti-riot police and troopers,
some seated in armored cars, ready to clampdown on any sign of
disturbance. Senior military officers have said they would issue
the order to shoot on sight at the first sign of a riot.

Still, the shops in the area were not taking chances
yesterday. Most stayed closed the entire morning.

After the court was adjourned, the crowd dispersed peacefully
in compliance with the police order.

Megawati's lawyers have said the violent riot at the weekend
should have expedited the court hearing so that a decision, one
way or another, could be made and the conflict settled. The
lawyers had earlier asked that Megawati be allowed to keep the
PDI headquarters pending a court decision.

Meanwhile, the authorities continued yesterday with their
investigation into the weekend rioting.

Union leader Muchtar Pakpahan underwent a marathon
interrogation at the Attorney General's Office.

The government sought to determine his role in the series of
"free-speech" forums held at the PDI headquarters last month that
turned into a forum to attack the government, his lawyers said.

Muchtar is the fifth person brought into the Attorney
General's Office for questioning since Monday. The others were
politician Ridwan Saidi, soothsayer Permadi Satrio Wiwoho,
Megawati's younger sister Sukmawati Soekarnoputri and deputy
chairman of the established United Indonesian Democratic Party
Julius Usman.

But unlike the other four, the authorities have issued an
arrest warrant for Muchtar, although they did not give any
specific charge other than saying that he was wanted for
questioning regarding the activities of the Democratic People's
Party (PRD).

Muchtar's lawyers said their client was also being questioned
about his links to PRD, whom the military blamed for the riots on
Saturday.

Meanwhile, two separate bomb threat calls were received in
Jakarta yesterday. The first caller claimed there was a bomb at
the Mulia Tower office building on Jl. Gatot Subroto and the
second on the Semanggi Cloverleaf. Both turned out to be hoaxes.

The threats also spread to Surabaya yesterday, where five
calls were made. The targets -- again, all hoaxes -- were BRI
Plaza, BCA Darmo Building, the Hyatt Hotel, Tunjungan Plaza and
Turi market.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna told The
Jakarta Post yesterday that detectives had begun examining
documents seized from the PRD secretariat in South Jakarta.

"We found some books and printed materials that contained
communist teachings," Iman said, referring to Monday's raid on
the PRD office. "These will be used as court evidence," he added.

The military has said that PRD is "synonymous" to PKI, the
Indonesian Communist Party, which was banned in 1966 after being
blamed for the coup d'etat the previous year.

Police, however, have yet to arrest any of the PRD leaders,
who are believed to have gone into hiding since the Saturday
riot.

In Surabaya, the military raided the secretariat of the PRD's
East Java chapter on Wednesday night, but found none of the PRD
activists and no important documents inside the house.

"We temporarily have to shut down the PRD secretariat, pending
further police investigation," Chief of the East Java Regional
Military Command Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo said yesterday.
(imn/bsr/16/15)

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