Rp 500m set aside for flood lawyers
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.