Lawyers criticize regent's decision

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers representing suspects in the Bekasi rape and robbery case say the plan to try the defendants at the civil servants' hall, instead of the court building is against the law.

"Conducting the trial at a place other than a court is against the law," Petrus Bala Pattyona, one of the lawyers told The Jakarta Post here yesterday.

Under the law, when the safety of defendants, lawyers, or other participants in the trial proceedings cannot be guaranteed in the local court, a trial can be moved to another court in another area. "Why didn't the Bekasi authorities chose a Jakarta district court for the Acan case trial?"

Petrus said it would be wiser for the trial to be conducted in Jakarta, considering that he and fellow defense lawyers have been terrorized by anonymous telephone calls since they filed a lawsuit against the police for unlawful arrest in August.

He said because emotions were running high in relation to the Acan case among the public in Bekasi, conducting the trial in the area was unacceptable.

"But if the government means to have the trial done in Bekasi, we will have to check the legality of the trial venue," he said.

The Bekasi administration has decided that the trial of the 11 defendants charged with robbing the house of Acan in Bekasi and raping his wife and two daughters will be at the Bekasi civil servants' building.

The decision has been made because the Bekasi courthouse is being renovated, court officials said.

The public views the situation differently. Local people think the decision was made by the regency administration to prevent incidents like those which occurred during the hearings on the unlawful arrest suit filed against the Bekasi police two months ago.

The crowd of courtroom visitors, most of whom were incensed at the nature of the crime for which the suspects had been arrested, attacked their lawyers twice during those hearings.

The defense lawyers then withdrew their lawsuit against the Bekasi police, saying that the authorities had failed to protect them.

Petrus said that the criminal trial, which is supposed to start next week, will involve about 20 lawyers. "But up to this time, we have not received the trial session schedule," he said.

Yesterday Petrus and 30 of his colleagues filed a complaint with the National Commission on Human Rights, saying that the police and government officials had been harassing lawyers. The arrest and beating of lawyers who are defending clients are unlawful actions, the lawyers told the commission yesterday. (03)