Sleman court to continue trial of Permadi despite lawyers' motion
Sleman court to continue trial of Permadi despite lawyers' motion
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Sleman District Court dismissed yesterday
a motion moved by the team of lawyers defending controversial
soothsayer Permadi, who is being tried for blaspheming against
Islam, deciding instead to proceed with the trial.
Judge Ismet Ilahoede of the Sleman District Court told the
lawyers for Permadi Satrio Wiwoho that their motion touched upon
matters to be dealt with in the trial proper.
The session, which was concerned with the question of whether
the court had jurisdiction to hear the case, thus decided that
the case against Permadi would go ahead.
Permadi sought police protection in February amid public
uproar over remarks he allegedly made last year which were said
to denigrate the Prophet Muhammad. Permadi has consistently
denied the blasphemy charge, saying he was quoted out of context
by both the police and the prosecution.
The court also dismissed a defense motions against the second
charge against Permadi, that he sowed hatred against one or more
groups in society. Another motion to have Permadi released on
bail was also denited.
Citing articles 156 and 156A of the Criminal Code, the court
said there was legal protection both for (religious, racial or
ethnic) groups in Indonesia and for the religions themselves.
As for the request for bail, Ilahoede said the panel of judges
concluded that, for the sake of further investigation, Permadi's
detention should continue. "However, once the investigation has
been completed he may be released from detention," Ilahoede said.
The defense team, led by H.M. Dault, said they would appeal
yesterday's rulings.
"We are disappointed and regret the judges' decision, and we
will appeal," Dault said. He was accompanied by the full defense
team: Trimulya D. Suryadi, Ramdlon Naning, Hajitumbu Saraswati,
and Sri Purwani.
Yesterday the court examined prosecution witness Wahyu
Sumitro, a police officer of the Sleman precinct responsible for
five junior officers who "monitored" the seminar during which
Permadi purportedly made the blasphemous remarks.
Sumitro said the seminar, held at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada
University, proceeded "safely and calmly, without any incident",
so that the security personnel deployed to monitor it had not
filed any complaints.
Sumitro admited that none of his junior officers had made any
report regarding blasphemy or any other crime at the seminar.
"I found out about the case of (Permadi's alleged) blasphemy
against Prophet Muhammad about a year after the seminar, which
was when I was summoned as a potential witness by the National
Police Headquarters," he said.
During the seminar last April, Permadi allegedly called
Prophet Muhammad a "dictator" and suggested that his leadership
in the seventh century had failed to establish a just and
prosperous society because the society had been constantly
involved in wars and killings had continued. (02/swe)