Suit against Soeharto goes to court

Suit against Soeharto goes to court

JAKARTA (JP): A trial session on the lawsuit filed by 51
lawyers grouped in the Indonesian Reform Era Lawyers Union
against former president Soeharto and the speakers of the
People's Consultative Assembly was held yesterday at the Central
Jakarta District Court.

At the session, which was led by presiding judge IM Paiman
Martoredjo, Soeharto, in his capacity as the first accused, was
represented by a team of lawyers from the Armed Forces' Legal
Advisory Board led by Col. Imron Anwari.

The other defendants, namely the People's Consultative
Assembly speaker, Harmoko, and deputy speakers Syarwan Hamid (now
Minister of Home Affairs), Abdul Gafur, Fatimah Ahmad, Ismail
Hasan Metareum and Pudjono Pranoto, were represented by a team of
lawyers from the Attorney General's Office.

The council of judges decided yesterday that only 33 out of
the 51 lawyers who filed the lawsuit could be acknowledged as
plaintiffs because the others had resigned. The acknowledged
plaintiffs include Sitor Situmorang, Trimedya Panjaitan and
Tarigan.

Situmorang said in his indictment yesterday that Soeharto had
violated Articles six and nine of the 1945 Constitution by
appointing B.J. Habibie as president of the Republic of Indonesia
and swearing in the latter before the Supreme Court.

He said that one of the articles stated that a president and
vice president should be elected by the Assembly through a
majority vote, while Article 9 of the constitution said that the
president and vice president should be sworn in before the
Assembly and not other institutions.

The plaintiffs also accused Harmoko and the other defendants
of not nullifying the mandate they gave Soeharto when they
elected him as president in March when Soeharto decided to quit.

"By not nullifying the mandate, it means that Soeharto is
still the legal president," Situmorang was quoted by Antara as
saying.

The plaintiffs, therefore, urged the court to punish all the
defendants and order the Assembly's speaker and deputy speakers
to conduct an extraordinary session to terminate Soeharto's
mandate.

The defendants were also asked to pay a mere total of Rp 7 as
compensation for the plaintiffs' rights at the moment the judge
gave the verdict.

Paiman adjourned the trial until July 8 for the lawyers'
response to the indictment. (cst)