Protesting students walk out of trial
JAKARTA (JP): Preceded by their lawyers, all of the 47 students on trial at the Central Jakarta District Court charged with holding an illegal rally walked out of the courtroom on Friday before the judges could read their verdicts.
The defendants, from the Perbanas economic and banking institute, made the decision after the judges rejected their lawyers' request to postpone the trial.
The students, arrested on Thursday in front of the central Bank Indonesia main office on Jl. Budi Kemuliaan, Central Jakarta, were tried in two courtrooms, presided over by judges Paiman Martoredjo and Hupoyo.
Accompanied by eight lawyers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, the students arrived at the court at 11 a.m. in two police trucks and entered the courtrooms already packed with their colleagues.
In one room, lawyer Surya Tjandra asked judge Paiman to postpone the trial until Tuesday, arguing that the students were exhausted after spending a night in police detention.
"Besides that, we also want to present our witnesses. Therefore, we request your honor to delay the trial. If this is not allowed, we will walk out of this room," Surya told the judge.
Paiman responded to the court that the lawyer's demand could not be met and the trial would continue. He explained that the case was categorized as a fast trial, which should be decided within one day, as stipulated in Article 207 (a) of the Criminal Code Procedure.
"You can walk out if you want," he told Surya and his three fellow lawyers in the courtroom.
Without giving further argument, the lawyers left the courtroom, followed by the students.
Paiman appeared upset by the incident, saying that the students and their lawyers had no respect for the court.
"The lawyers could leave the room, but I did not allow the defendants to leave the room. I had not even decided the verdict yet. They did not respect the court," he told those remaining in the room.
A similar scene occurred in the other courtroom.
The judges agreed to continue the trial without the defendants or their lawyers. The court then heard testimony from police officers.
Both judges fined all 47 students Rp 2,000 (US 25 cents) each, which could be substituted with three days in prison.
While the judges continued the trial, the students were seen sitting in the court compound. They were unable to leave the area as the gate was locked and guarded by dozens of police officers.
One of the students, Herman, regretted the judges' decision not to postpone the trial.
"We did not conduct a rally. We were about to meet officials from the central bank, and we had already obtained the bank's approval to hold a dialog on the bank's recapitalization and liquidation plans," he said.
He said they were arrested at 1:30 p.m., a few minutes before they were to enter the bank's compound.
"We had been informed that the bank's officials were ready to receive us," he said.
According to lawyer Surya, the Criminal Code Procedure permitted the judges to postpone the trial for up to a week.
"How could we give respect to the judges, if they run the trial without even considering our demands. They just follow the police instructions," he said.
Another lawyer, Daniel Panjaitan, said his clients were considering to appeal the judges' decision at the Supreme Court.
The students left the court compound at 3 p.m. in a bus, after their lawyers met with the judges and Central Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna. (jun)