Police ready to present Yorrys before the court

JAKARTA (JP): Police said yesterday that they will bring Yorrys Raweyai of Pemuda Pancasila to trial for his alleged role in a gambling case.

"Whenever the judges want us to bring him before the court, we're ready," said Lt. Col. Gregorius Mere, head of the General Affairs Section of the Crime Investigation Unit at the City Police Headquarters.

Yorrys Raweyai, the daily chairman of the Pemuda Pancasila youth organization, failed to show up at the West Jakarta District Court on Monday.

The 43-year old man and six other defendants are to be tried on charges of organizing and playing rummy and macok and other card and dice games at a storehouse in West Jakarta in July.

In an attempt to explain his absence, Ruhut Sitompul, Yorrys's lawyer, said that his client probably had not received the subpoena.

According to Lt. Col. Mere, Yorrys did not break the law when he didn't show up for trial and as a result cannot be held in contempt of court.

"By law, a defendant is only breaking the law when he repeatedly refuses to appear in court," the officer said.

Yorrys and three others are up on gambling charges while the remaining three are accused of having organized the gambling events. The accused will be tried in two separate trials.

Presiding judge Ismail Sebayang postponed the trial of Yorrys until Monday, asking prosecutor Noor Said to bring Yorrys in then.

Mere said that police released Yorrys on bail after five days in police detention.

The police officer said that he had no idea if Yorrys release was prompted by pressure coming from certain parties or from the executives of the powerful Golkar affiliated Pemuda Pancasila youth organization.

"We released him at the request of his family," Mere said.

Mere said that Yorrys's case is, in reality, quite unimportant. "The case only seemed big because some people and several newspapers have tried to blow it up," Mere said.

Yapto Suryosumarno, chairman of Pemuda Pancasila, said earlier that the controversial arrest of Yorrys was politically motivated, a charge denied by Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Hendropriyono.

Under the law a gambling organizer can be sentenced to up to four years imprisonment or be fined Rp 10 million (US$4,576), while a gambling participant faces up to 10 years in jail or a Rp 25 million fine. (bsr)