Men tried on forgery charges

TANGERANG (JP): A prosecutor asked the Tangerang District Court on Wednesday to sentence a subdistrict secretary and a member of staff each to two years and six months imprisonment for counterfeiting 31 signatures in connection with the sale of a 15- hectare plot of land in Jatake subdistrict, Pagedangan district, Tangerang, in October, 1999.

Prosecutor Nellita Ariani said the defendants, A. Suarjo, 48, the secretary of Jatake subdistrict office and Suherman, 38, a member of staff at the office, counterfeited the documents after they received a request from Januar Mandala Jafar, director of PT Arha Putry Piranty, a sand-mining company, to collect signatures from 55 people who reportedly had allowed the company to mine sand on their land.

However, some of the owners died, and their heirs were opposed to the company carrying out its activities on their land. (41)