Lawyer says slander suspect misidentified

JAKARTA (JP): A lawyer representing a housewife being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday for allegedly insulting the Armed Forces (ABRI) and the government said the police had arrested the wrong person.

Defense lawyer Erick S. Paat said police had mistakenly arrested 44-year-old Nurhayati, a staunch supporter of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

The lawyer cited a police officer's report that the prosecutor had misidentified her client.

Paat told the court that Sgt. Hamid wrote in the suspect's dossier that, on June 17, it was Budiman Sudjatmiko, the chief of the outlawed Democratic People's Party (PRD), not Nurhayati, who "intentionally slandered the government in front of the public and sowed hatred against the government and the authorities".

"In fact, the suspect was not at the PDI headquarters on June 17 when she was alleged to have delivered a speech that slandered ABRI," Paat said.

The suspect is charged with insulting the Armed Forces in a speech at the free speech forum at the party's headquarters in June.

The prosecutor said the defendant's speech condemned ABRI, when she said: "ABRI had the heart to kick a woman."

If found guilty, Nurhayati faces a maximum seven years jail.

Paat also claimed the indictment was "blurred" because it did not explicitly mention who was the "real target" of the speech.

Paat said the government consisted of many divisions, such as the central government in Jakarta and local authorities. The Armed Forces also has various units, such as the army, the navy, the air force and the police.

"Which one is offended by the alleged insult?," he queried.

The prosecutor said Nurhayati only saw a woman trampled on by a soldier in a bloody clash between soldiers and Megawati's supporters in front of Gambir railway station.

Megawati's supporters marched on June 20 protesting the government-sanctioned Medan congress, which toppled Megawati as the PDI's chairperson.

The lawyer said the prosecution did not point out which government officials were offended by the alleged slander.

"They should mention the real target or targets of the alleged slander and bring him or her to the court," Paat said.

Paat said because the suspect had not been represented by any lawyer since the police investigation until the prosecution questioned her, "it makes the legal process defective".

The trial continues tomorrow. (16)