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)