President, state secretary summoned

JAKARTA: Legal representatives of 13 political parties demanded on Tuesday that the panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court summon President Megawati Soekarnoputri and State Secretary Bambang Kesowo in the trial against the country's three largest political parties, which have been accused of illegally occupying state buildings.

The plaintiffs lawyer Ikhsan Abdullah said their attendance would be of paramount importance for the court as they were the primary defendants in the case.

The demand was echoed by lawyers of Golkar party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Presiding judge Heri Swantoro ordered the bailiffs to summon the President and the state secretary/minister or their legal representatives to appear in court in the subsequent trials.

"If they fail to appear, we can proceed without them," he said.

The trial will resume on Feb. 11 when the panel of judges will offer an amicable settlement to both parties.

The plaintiffs accused the three parties of violating Law No. 5/1960 on land reform and demanded that they return the assets which were given by the New Order regime -- JP

;JP;URIP;EVI; ANPAj..r.. Great-suicide-busway Street singer jumps to death JP/8/GREAT

Street singer jumps to death

JAKARTA: A 28-year-old street singer, identified only as Fauzi, fell from a pedestrian bridge in front of the Bank Indonesia building on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday afternoon, into the busway lane.

"For the time being, we are assuming the victim committed suicide," said Gambir Police subprecinct officer Comr. Nanang Rudy S. "But it is also possible that there was a murder attempt by other street singers."

Some street singers at the scene said that they knew the victim, a resident of Jembatan Lima subdistrict, West Jakarta, but they had nothing to do with his death.

"We just knew him as a street singer who usually sang with two of his friends on buses along the Blok M-Kota route," said one of the street singers.

The incident forced the city transportation agency to close the lane from the intersection of Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Kebon Sirih to the Arjuna Wijaya statue traffic circle.

An official with the agency W. Hutajulu said 12 busway buses were shifted to the non-busway lane.

"There was traffic congestion for about 15 minutes," he said. -- JP