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)