Police under fire for handling of detainees
Police under fire for handling of detainees
JAKARTA (JP): City Police are currently under pressure from
lawsuits filed by 128 of the 172 people arrested since the middle
of last month for allegedly staging or participating in street
rallies and other politically related activities.
A case brought by 122 detained members of Barisan Merah Putih
(the Red-and-White Front), is due to be heard at the South
Jakarta District Court today.
Another suit filed by six people, including the popular stage
actress Ratna Sarumpaet, is scheduled to be heard at the North
Jakarta District Court on Monday.
The 172 people arrested consist of 157 members of Barisan
Merah Putih, six labor activists and nine participants in the
Indonesian Congress, of which Ratna is one.
Six of the nine detained Indonesian Congress members have
accused the police of arresting them without formal warrants or
sufficient evidence.
Hendardi, executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid and
Human Rights Association (PBHI) which is representing Ratna and
her five friends, said yesterday that his clients filed the suit
because police had mishandled their arrest.
He said that his clients had been charged under 1963 law No. 5
on politically related activities which carries a maximum penalty
of five years in jail, adding that "Ratna has also been charged
under Article 154 of the Criminal Code for expressing hatred
against the government in public."
"The arrest of Ratna and the other five people was not valid
according to the law. The police did not have enough evidence to
arrest my clients," he told The Jakarta Post.
Yesterday, at least 62 of the 128 people who filed the pre-
trial lawsuit remained in custody at the City Police
Headquarters' detention center.
Police recently handed over dossiers on a further 60 suspects
to the Prosecutor's Office. The 60 are now being detained at the
Cipinang and Pondok Bambu penitentiary centers.
Four suspects have been released on bail.
All those arrested have been charged with violating the 1963
Law on politically related activities.
The 122 Barisan Merah Putih members who have begun legal
proceedings are among 157 members of the group arrested for
marching from the Attorney General's Office in Blok M to the
Ministry of Manpower on Jl. Gatot Soebroto, South Jakarta, on
Feb. 15. They were protesting against the soaring price of staple
foods.
Petrus Selestinus from the Lawyers for the Defense of
Indonesian Democracy (TPDI), which is representing the group
members, said that 34 of the 157 detained had been charged under
Article 510 of the Criminal Code on unlawful street rallies and
brought to trial one day after their arrest.
"They were released after paying a fine of around Rp 2,000,"
he told the Post yesterday.
The other 123 detainees had been charged under Article 510 and
the 1963 Law on politically related activities, he said. (cst)