Student's lawsuit against city police rejected

Student's lawsuit against city police rejected

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court rejected on
Friday a lawsuit filed by Indonesian Christian University student
Edward Taurus Karo-karo against the city police for wrongful
arrest.

Presiding judge Darlan Nasution said the city police had
enough evidence to maintain that the arrest was lawful.

"The evidence submitted by the police is complete and legal.
They even borrowed some from the prosecutor's office for the sake
of the court process," he said after the session.

Edward and his colleague, Rudi Pahala Simatupang Siburian,
along with two other students who are still at large, are accused
of kidnapping Maj. Sgt. Suratman of the South Jakarta Police
identification unit during a protest organized by students
grouped in the City Forum (Forkot) on Nov. 27 in front of the
Jakarta Police Headquarters.

The two students, however, claim that by pushing him into a
taxi and taking him away from the area, they were saving the
plainclothes officer from being beaten up by protesting students
who believed he was an informant.

They were arrested by city police detectives on Dec. 8.

Rudi was picked up by at least 20 plainclothes officers at his
house in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, while Edward was arrested in
the Cawang area of East Jakarta. The two were later detained at
the city police headquarters.

In lawsuits filed by lawyers from the Student Movement
Advocating Team on Jan. 7, Rudi and Edward claimed the city
police officers were not in possession of warrants when they
picked the students up.

In their lawsuit, the two students sought compensation
amounting to Rp 1.5 million for material losses and Rp 1 billion
for other losses.

In another trial on Monday, a different panel of judges at the
same court ruled in favor of Rudi, who was released from custody
on the same day.

However, city police claimed Rudi was not released at the
judge's instructions but claimed his detention period had ended.

Hotma Timbul Hutapea, one of the lawyers, expressed
disappointment over the verdict on Edward's case, saying that
court witnesses, including two police officers who gave
contradictory testimonies on the arrest, were not credible.

"The city police also failed to present the plaintiff to the
court, even though the judge sent three orders for them to do
so," he said.

Hotma said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.

The verdict was booed at by at least 50 Indonesian Christian
University (UKI) students who were present at the hearing.

"The court is unfair", "The court is fabricated", and "Long
live students," they shouted amid 100 police officers who carried
sticks and shields.

The students then visited the city police headquarters at
about 2 p.m. and held a demonstration, demanding Edward's
release.

They unfurled banners and posters and conducted a free-speech
forum in front of the building of the city police detectives
unit.

The students also asked the police to detain them so that they
could show solidarity with Edward.

Police arrested the students after they refused to disperse.
They were questioned until 5 p.m. and were due to be released at
night. (ivy/jun)