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)