Legislators query detention of Megawati's supporters

Legislators query detention of Megawati's supporters

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives questioned Tuesday
alleged arrest procedure violations of supporters of ousted
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) chief Megawati Soekarnoputri,
weeks after they were already freed from jail.

Legislators from House Commission III for legal affairs held a
meeting with chief of the Central Jakarta Prosecution Office
Basrief Arief, and asked him why the PDI activists had been
detained in ways which violate the law.

The legislators said the activists had been sentenced to less
than five years in jail. Most of them were given sentences which
equaled their detention periods, so that they became free as soon
as the verdict was handed down.

"They shouldn't have been detained before the case was heard
in court," one of the legislators said.

Last month, 124 supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri were
jailed by the court to between one month and four months
imprisonment for their role in a riot in July.

This is against the Procedures of the Criminal Law, which
stipulates that only those who face a possible jail term of more
than five years can be detained, said Handjojo Putro, a
legislator of the PDI faction.

Basrief, however, said the PDI activists were charged under
more than one section of the Criminal Code and were detained
under Section 170, which carries a maximum five years and six
months in jail.

"But," he said, "the charge was not proven in court because
some witnesses changed their minds during the court hearings."

Their testimony was very different from earlier statements
they made before the police interrogators, Basrief said.

"The defendants were only proven guilty of violating Section
218 of the Criminal Code, which carries a more lenient sentence,"
he said.

The supporters of Megawati were arrested at the party's
headquarters during the July 27 riot, which was provoked by a
forcible takeover of the building by supporters of Soerjadi, the
new party chairman chosen in a government-backed congress in
June.

The legislators also questioned why so many witnesses had
withdrawn their statements made to police interrogators.

"Was that because police officers used coercion to extract
confessions?" asked another House member.

The legislators also asked how often such reversals had taken
place.

Basrief said that the trend was less than 10 percent of all
the cases sent to court.

"Of course there was psychological pressure. It is quite
natural because when a person is summoned by the police he or she
usually has feelings of being pressured," he said.

During the meeting, the House members also asked how
successful the prosecution has been in hunting for the assets of
Eddy Tansil, a businessman jailed for 20 years for swindling Rp
1.3 trillions (US$5.4 billion) of state-owned Bank Pembangunan
Indonesia. With the help of prison officers, Tansil managed to
escape from Cipinang jail in May. (05)