Suit against Golkar rejected

JAKARTA (JP): Golkar Party supporters cheered in triumph on Tuesday as the Supreme Court Justice banged the gavel disallowing a suit to dissolve the party, which had cited alleged violations in the past general election.

A five-member panel of justices presided over by Asma Samik Ibrahim said in the verdict that there was a lack of legitimate evidence to support the suit filed by several non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Justice Asma said the plaintiffs had failed to provide legitimate evidence.

"The evidence submitted were photocopies of references and articles clipped from newspapers and magazines, reporting the alleged violations committed by the party. Such evidence is not acceptable," she said.

The court also rejected the demand that the party be disqualified as a participant in the next general election.

The verdict was read out in turn by Asma and the panel members comprising justices Tjung Abdul Muthalib, Artidjo Alkostar, Abdurrahman Saleh and Laica Marzuki.

Soon after the hearing was over, Golkar Chairman Akbar Tandjung was embraced by his deputy Mahadi Sinambela and other party executives.

"I am satisfied with this verdict. This proves that Golkar is still worthy of being called a political party and we still have the right to join the 2004 election," Akbar told reporters in the tightly-guarded court room.

Some 60 members of five NGOs who filed the suit charged that Golkar had allegedly received some Rp 90 billion from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog); Rp 15 billion from Bank Bali and Rp 1 billion from former chief of the Advisory Council (DPA), AA Baramuli.

The plaintiffs argued that the party violated Law No. 2./1999 which prohibits a political party from receiving personal donations exceeding Rp 15 million, or donations from private companies, legal bodies, or organizations in excess of Rp 150 million.

The justices, however, were of the opinion that the plaintiffs could not prove the charges.

The court rejected testimonies given by a number of witnesses in the case, including Sri Bintang Pamungkas of the Indonesian Democratic United Party (PUDI); Askodar of the General Election Committee (KPU) and Hadijoyo of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The justices said the witnesses had never witnessed in person the violations allegedly committed by the party and that witness testimonies were only based on personal conclusions.

Lawyer RO Tambunan, who represented the plaintiffs, had earlier asked the court to summon Minister of Defense Mahfud MD and Minister of Finance Rizal Ramli, who first publicly revealed the alleged violations by the Golkar Party. The Supreme Court, however, turned down the request.

Justice Artidjo Alkostar told reporters at his office after Tuesday's hearing was over that he, himself, was eager to dissolve the party despite the lack of (legal) evidence. But he was quick to add that "political evidence is totally different from legal evidence."

"We must remain objective in trying the case as we are dealing with legal matters. In politics, assumption can be categorized as evidence, but it (the assumption) is not recognized in the legal sphere," Artidjo said.

He also dismissed accusations that the Supreme Court was not serious in trying the case.

"We were handling the case seriously. The plaintiffs lost the case due to technical matters only, as they failed to bring authentic documents before the trial or present eyewitnesses to the alleged violations committed by Golkar," Artidjo said.

The legal battle, however, is not over.

Lawyer Tambunan told The Jakarta Post later in the day that he was ready to file a new lawsuit against Golkar once there was new evidence to support the charges.

He said that the Attorney General's Office is investigating the alleged illegal disbursement of Rp 90 billion in Bulog funds for Golkar with Akbar as the suspect.

"If the investigation proves the disbursement of the funds, we will use it as new evidence to file a new suit at the Supreme Court," he said.

Tuesday's session was also marred by an incident as two young men claiming to be students and anti-Golkar activists stormed into the court room with a hen, and released it in the court room.

The confused hen flew around, disrupting the court.

The students, Luthfie Awaluddin of the Bogor Agriculture Institute in West Java and Aganda Almen Chaniago of the University of Indonesia, were held by police for questioning.

Outside the Supreme Court, hundreds of supporters and protesters against Golkar staged a demonstration outside the Supreme Court. The rally turned ugly with scuffles among demonstrators, but police handled the situation by firing a single gunshot into the air. (tso/ylt)