Protesting students appeal court ruling
Protesting students appeal court ruling
JAKARTA (JP): One hundred and ten students who were pronounced
guilty of conducting an illegal rally announced on Wednesday they
would appeal the Central Jakarta District Court's ruling.
Each were ordered to pay a Rp 2,250 fine as punishment.
The students, grouped under the Student Action Front for
Reform and Democracy (Famred), said they would file an appeal
with the Supreme Court.
The defendants, who were arrested on Tuesday near the office
of the General Elections Commission on Jl. Cokroaminoto after
staging an anti-Golkar Party rally, arrived at the district court
at 11 a.m. in four police trucks.
Greeted by at least 200 student supporters, the defendants
entered four courtrooms which were respectively presided over by
judges M. Simatupang, Ali Akmal, Endang Sumarsih and Asmar
Ismail.
After the judges rapped their gavels to open the trial, the
students stood up and interrupted the trial to give statements.
"Since we don't recognize the trial, we will leave the
courtroom," one of the students said.
Applauded by friends, the defendants then immediately left the
courtrooms.
In the absent of the defendants, the judges continued the
trial, pronouncing the students guilty of conducting an illegal
rally.
They said the defendants violated Law 9/1998 on freedom of
speech which obliges protesters to notify the police prior to
holding a rally.
Those found guilty of violating the law are liable to
punishment based on Article 510 of the Criminal Code, a product
of the colonial rulers, which carries a maximum punishment of two
weeks in prison or a fine of up to Rp 2,250.
A lawyer for the students from the Indonesian Student Movement
Lawyer Team said he regretted that the judges reached a verdict
in the absence of the defendants.
"The judges should have examined the defendants and other
evidence before deciding on a sentence," the students' lawyer
said.
During Tuesday's rally, the students demanded, among other
things, that ruling the Golkar Party be barred from the upcoming
general election.
Similar incidents of students ignoring judges' decisions or
refusing to appear in court have become a trend in the capital's
district courts over the past few weeks.
Earlier, a court fined hundreds of students found guilty of
conducting illegal rallies between Rp 2,000 and Rp 2,250.
Only a few students paid their fines.
Many of the students appealed the court's decision.
Others refused to pay the fine and declined to state whether
they accepted the sentence or would lodge an appeal. Instead they
walked out of the courtroom.
Legal practitioners have also asked students on trial to
respect the court and obey the law. (jun)