NGOs insist they have right to sue President

NGOs insist they have right to sue President

JAKARTA (JP): Non-governmental organizations locked in a legal
wrangle against President Soeharto over his controversial decree
insisted yesterday they had the right to sue him.

Lawyers representing six non-governmental organizations urged
the Jakarta State Administrative Court to go ahead with trying
the President for issuing a decree diverting Rp 400 billion
(US$182.9 million) reforestation funds to IPTN, the state-owned
aviation company.

Article 53 of the State Administrative Law states that those
who can file a lawsuit with the court are individuals or civil
corporations whose interests are damaged by a government decree,
said Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, one of the plaintiffs'
lawyers.

Their defense statement was a reply to the President's
previous question over the organizations' authority to file the
lawsuit.

Abdul Hakim said the organizations, as social or civil
organizations addressing environmental issues, were concerned
with the decree issued by the accused.

"The Presidential Decree is against their (the organizations)
goals, which are to enhance people's participation in conserving
the forest's ecosystem," Hakim said.

The conservation of the ecosystem is one of the efforts to
protect the public's interests, as guaranteed in the 1982 law on
environmental management, the guidelines of state policy and the
Forestry Law of 1967, he said.

The NGOs are suing the head of state for issuing a decree in
June 1994, which ordered the forestry ministry to grant a Rp 400
billion (US$182.9 million) interest-free loan to the state-owned
aviation company.

The money, drawn from interest earned on reforestation funds
held by state banks, is to be used by the state-owned aviation
company to develop its latest model, the N-250. The prototype was
rolled out at the end of the Senior Officials Meeting of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum earlier this month.

The money, contributed by firms which hold timber concessions,
was to be used for planting trees in denuded forest areas.

The plaintiffs maintain that the government has violated a
1990 presidential decree which stipulates that reforestation
funds should be used solely for reforestation programs.

The plaintiffs are the Indonesian Forum of Environment, the
Foundation of Indonesian Tropical Nature, the Foundation of Forum
of the Study of Population and Environment, the Foundation of the
Institution of the Development of Environment and Human
Resources, the Indonesian Center for Law Development and the
Pelangi Foundation.

The plaintiffs argue that the Presidential Decree is in effect
and has brought about legal consequences because it does not need
any approval from higher or other institutions, including further
financial arrangements between the Minister of Forestry and the
state-owned aviation company's director.

"The Minister of Forestry is one of the President's
assistants, which means all of his actions are the implementation
of the Presidential Decree," the plaintiffs said.

They also insisted that their lawsuit met the requirements
set by the State Administration Law.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court ruled in September that
the lawsuit was valid and the court was determined to continue
the legal process, the plaintiffs said.

The plaintiffs asked the court to reject the President's
defense statement and to proceed with the trial.(imn)