Megawati's lawyers receive bomb threats

Megawati's lawyers receive bomb threats

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers for the fractured Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) canceled yesterday their first anniversary
celebration, planned for today, following bomb threats.

Chief of the group known as the Public Defenders of Indonesian
Democracy (TPDI), R.O. Tambunan, told reporters that the team
decided to call off the celebration following a report by a
security officer at the planned venue, the Cempaka Hotel in
Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, about the bomb threats.

The officer said the hotel received phone calls by anonymous
sources threatening to bomb the building if the team of lawyers
continued to proceed with their celebration.

"We concluded that it was too risky to hold the celebration,"
Tambunan said.

Last year Tambunan and 3,000 colleagues across the country
established TPDI, which filed lawsuits against the government and
military officials who backed a PDI congress in Medan, North
Sumatra, that ousted Megawati Soekarnoputri as chairwoman and
elected her rival, Soerjadi.

The team also represents some of Megawati's supporters who
were accused of assaulting people and damaging property in
Central Jakarta on July 27 last year.

In addition to the bomb threats, Tambunan said the celebration
had to be canceled because the team failed to secure a police
permit.

He said the chief of Cempaka Putih Police precinct said his
office could not issue a permit because it was the authority of
the National Police to do so.

Tambunan expressed bewilderment over the bomb threats and over
the police's refusal to grant a permit as, he believed, nobody
should have been disturbed by the team's celebration.

"There's nothing to be worried about... it's a mere
celebration of our anniversary," he said.

The team had planned, during the celebration, a book launching
and the presentation of the Sahardjo Award to former justice Adi
Andojo Soetjipto for his campaign for clean law enforcement in
the country.

Tambunan said Megawati deeply regretted the developments that
led to the cancellation of the celebration.

"She can't understand why the police couldn't issue a permit,"
Tambunan said. (05)