Lawsuit revocation in gang rape case draws criticism
Lawsuit revocation in gang rape case draws criticism
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman criticized
yesterday the decision of the defense lawyers in a robbery and
rape case to withdraw from a lawsuit against the Bekasi police
just as the pre-trial session hearing of the suit was about to be
concluded.
"It is their right to withdraw from the pre-trial procedures
but it is not ethical for them to do such a thing when the pre-
trial suit was about to reach its final stage," Oetojo told
reporters after installing new senior officials of the justice
ministry.
The minister installed Bagir Manan as the new director general
of judicial affairs, replacing Saleh Baharis.
Oetojo said that his office would soon summon the lawyers for
a meeting in relation to their withdrawal.
On Tuesday the four defense lawyers -- Petrus Bala Pattyona,
Hendar Puji Astoro, Aidi Johan and Ismail -- withdrew from a suit
against the Bekasi police on the ground that the authorities had
failed to guarantee their safety.
Last week, the four lawyers were stoned, beaten and kicked by
angry mobs during the last two sessions of the pre-trial
hearings.
The lawyers said that the police and anti-riot troops had
barely been able to protect them.
The court session on Tuesday was supposed to have been the
final stage of pre-trial hearings of complaints that the Bekasi
police illegally arrested the accused in the robbery and rape
case.
Eleven accused were arrested last month on charges of having
robbed a man named Acan and brutally raped his wife and two
teenage daughters in a small, isolated village in the Bekasi
area, 30 kilometers east of Jakarta.
Chief Justice Soerjono said withdrawal from a lawsuit being
tried is legally permissible, rejecting suggestions that the
lawyers' move had been in contempt of court.
Neither Soerjono nor Oetojo expressed any objections in
relation to the lawyers' other request, that the robbery and rape
trials be held in a court other than the Bekasi District Court.
"It is within the authority of the chief of the Bekasi
District Court to propose a change of trial venue," Oetojo said.
"It is then a matter for the Supreme Court and the justice
ministry to decide whether to approve the transfer request or
not," Soerjono said. (imn)