Lawyers monitor trials

Lawyers monitor trials

JAKARTA (JP): A team of lawyers from the International Bar
Association (IBA) and the International Commission of Jurists
will arrive in Jakarta this month to observe the trials of local
activists.

Roger Smith, a spokesman for IBA's Human Rights Institute,
told The Jakarta Post here yesterday that a different observer
would be sent each week to monitor the trials in Jakarta and
Surabaya.

"At least one Supreme court judge from Australia, John Dowd,
will be coming out as will the president of IBA," Smith said.

Subversion charges have been slapped on nine activists of the
obscure Democratic People's Party and leader of the unrecognized
Prosperous Labor Union Muchtar Pakpahan in Jakarta. In Surabaya,
three activists are also standing trial on the same charges.

Prosecutors have charged them with intending to replace the
state ideology Pancasila and topple the legitimate government.

Under the Indonesian legal system, subversion is one of the
most serious offenses, carrying a maximum penalty of death if the
defendant is found guilty.

In its Oct. 23 conference in Berlin, the Human Rights
Institute expressed deep concern over the use of the subversion
law against peaceful pro-democracy and labor activists in
Indonesia.

Smith said the Human Rights Institute was seriously concerned
the suspects would not receive a fair trial "given the current
political atmosphere." (pan)