Rp 500m set aside for flood lawyers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration announced on Tuesday that it has allocated Rp 500 million (US$52,910) to pay the three lawyers recently hired to face a lawsuit filed by the city's flood victims.

"Rp 500 million can go to the lawyers as we haven't faced many legal cases this year," the city secretary's financial assistant, Makmun Amin, told reporters at the sidelines of a meeting at Hotel Horison in Ancol, North Jakarta.

Makmun revealed that the money would be taken from the 2002 city budget's law section, saying that it would be the first time the administration had used the money to hire private lawyers.

"The fund has been allocated annually but it's never been used before. It's the first time," he said.

The governor of Jakarta, along with the President and the governor of West Java, are being sued by flood victims for not warning the public beforehand and being late in responding to the floods that swept the city earlier this year.

Fourteen representatives of the flood victims filed the lawsuit on March 13, demanding Rp 2.7 billion (US$270,000) compensation.

In the battle against the top-notch lawyers, the flood victims are being defended by pro-bono lawyers from various legal aid institutes in the city.

Makmun declined to mention the "fee" for the defense lawyers -- Mohamad Assegaf, Yan Juanda Saputra and R.E. Abikusno -- saying it was cheaper than what they charged private clients.

The lawyers, known for their high profile clients, are reportedly being paid in U.S. dollars. They usually get paid US$400 an hour for legal consultation and an additional 10 percent of the "value" of the case if they win the case.

Assegaf is now a lawyer of former president Soeharto and his son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra -- who is being charged for allegedly murdering Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, illegal arms possession and absconding justice -- and Sjahril Sabirin who was sentenced to three years in jail in the Bank Bali scandal, but remains free.

Yan Juanda is a lawyer of former president B.J. Habibie who was recently questioned as a witness in the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) scandal with prime suspect Akbar Tandjung, who is also speaker of the House of Representatives.