Sarwata to study rejection of Pakpahan's trial review bid

JAKARTA (JP): Chief Justice Sarwata promised yesterday to look into reports that the Medan district court had illegally refused labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan's request for a trial review.

Sarwata said he was awaiting a detailed report from the North Sumatra high court chief, who is authorized to supervise the lower courts.

Pakpahan's request for a trial review was reportedly turned down by the Medan district court when his lawyers arrived to file the documents last month.

The lawyers said the rejection was illegal and could become a bad precedent. Normally, they argued, a decision would be made after a hearing.

"I am expecting a report from the Medan high court," Sarwata told reporters after an Idul Fitri gathering at his office.

Muchtar Pakpahan, chairman of the unrecognized Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union, was sentenced to three years in jail in November 1994 on charges of inciting a strike that developed into anti-Chinese riots in Medan. The high court increased the sentence to four years.

He was released last year after a panel of Supreme Court justices led by Adi Andojo Soetjipto exonerated him from all charges after finding there had been insufficient evidence for a conviction.

Unhappy with Andojo's decision, government prosecutors in Medan filed for a trial review in the Supreme Court which on Oct. 25 controversially found in their favor.

Many legal experts have said the trial review by the Medan Prosecutor's Office is unprecedented because Criminal Code Procedures stipulate that only a defendant or his beneficiaries can request a trial review from the Supreme Court.

Pakpahan is currently detained in Jakarta's Cipinang prison and on trial for subversion charges for attempting to undermine the government. (05)