Lawyer insists on trial for HQ takeover suit

JAKARTA (JP): Ninety-eight Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) supporters loyal to the party's former leader, Megawati Soekarnoputri, pressed on with their lawsuit over the violent takeover of the party's headquarters last year.

They rejected the argument made by defense lawyers of Soerjadi, the new PDI chairman, at a previous hearing. The defense had said that the issue was purely an internal party matter and that the court had no jurisdiction to try the suit.

The plaintiff's chief lawyer, R.O. Tambunan, said the takeover, which led to a massive and bloody riot, was a crime that should be dealt with by the courts.

"A crime is certainly not the party's internal problem," Tambunan said. "It should automatically be tried by the court."

The 98 Megawati supporters are suing Soerjadi, his cadres and the former Central Jakarta police chief, Let. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira, for their role in the takeover.

The takeover of the PDI office on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, on July 27 last year lead to a riot which claimed five lives, left 23 people missing and scores of buildings gutted by fire.

The National Commission of Human Rights' has called for a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of the missing people, but the government has not provided any more information on them.

One hundred and twenty-four people had initially brought the group action, but problems gaining all their signatures had reduced their number to 98.

The damages demanded by the plaintiffs have also dropped to Rp 9.8 billion (US$3.96 million) from Rp 12.4 billion.

Megawati attended the hearing yesterday cheered on by about 200 supporters who packed the courtroom. As she left the courtroom, supporters repeatedly chanted: "Mega will certainly win."

The supporters marched for a kilometer from the court to Tambunan's office, where Megawati's car was under guard.

On Thursday, Abubakar's lawyer Rudi Heriyanto demanded that the court exclude his client from the lawsuit because Abubakar had only been carrying out his duty as an administrative official who could not be sued.

Tambunan said that rather than trying to stop "Soerjadi's supporters" from attacking the PDI headquarters, Abubakar's troops had stood back and allowed them to proceed.

"Moreover, they (the troops) were involved in the action," Tambunan said. (05)