Lawyer's gun causes court turmoil
Lawyer's gun causes court turmoil
JAKARTA (JP): The hearing of a lawsuit against Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) chairman Soerjadi deteriorated into a
scuffle yesterday after one of the defendant's lawyers took a gun
into the courtroom.
The Central Jakarta District Court was hearing a lawsuit filed
by 124 supporters of ousted PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.
They are suing Soerjadi, his cadres and former Central Jakarta
police chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira for the forced
takeover of the party's headquarters on July 27 last year.
The takeover led to a riot which claimed five lives and left
23 people missing.
Yesterday's scuffle between plaintiffs, court visitors and
lawyers began after a visitor shrieked that Maj. R.M. Panggabean,
a lawyer representing Abubakar, had a gun holstered on his belt.
"There's someone carrying a gun into the courtroom," the
visitor shouted.
Judge Panto Alboin Sianipar immediately ordered a court
security officer to examine Panggabean, who then handed over his
gun.
Unsatisfied, a group of Megawati supporters approached the
bench and yelled at the judge.
"Doesn't he know that it's prohibited to bring guns into the
courtroom?" one supporter demanded.
Other visitors shouted at the lawyer, accusing him of ignoring
the Criminal Code.
In the ensuing confusion, the judges and defense lawyers fled
the courtroom.
Outside, presiding Judge Abas Soemantri admitted that the
lawyer had broken court procedure. "That's why we have
reprimanded him," he said.
Before the incident, the court heard that the number of
plaintiffs had been reduced to 78.
Dwi Ria Latifa, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the number
had fallen because it had been difficult to get the signatures of
all the original plaintiffs because they lived in different parts
of the country.
The amount of compensation demanded by the plaintiffs was
reduced to Rp 9.8 billion (US$3.96 million). They had originally
demanded Rp 12.4 billion in damages.
The plaintiffs' lawyers have lodged a protest over the gun
being taken into court. They said Panggabean's act was tantamount
to intimidating the court. (05)