Suit against Golkar rejected

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)