Tommy's lawyers blasted for avoiding trial

Tommy's lawyers blasted for avoiding trial

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

All citizens are supposed to respect the court as an institution
to uphold the law in the country. Consequently, whether they are
a defendant, a witness, a prosecutor or a lawyer, they must obey
its orders and regulations.

When a court summones somebody for a hearing, he or she is
obliged to answer the summons. But on Wednesday, the lawyers of
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former
president Soeharto, were absent in their client's hearing.

They said that their action was in protest of the police
detention of their colleague, Elza Syarief, for allegedly bribing
two witnesses in Tommy's case.

The court was not able to hear the testimony of four witnesses
because Tommy was not prepared to continue with the hearing
without his lawyers, although the judges gave him the option to
do so.

Last week, the court had summoned four witnesses to testify
before the trial. Both prosecutors and lawyers had agreed to the
schedule.

Presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria adjourned the hearing for a
week on the grounds that Article 54 of the Criminal Code
Procedure stipulates that a suspect or a defendant has the right
to be accompanied by his lawyers during questioning or a hearing.

In fact, the lawyers -- as is the case with a defendant, a
witness, an expert or a prosecutor -- are only allowed to miss a
court summons on good grounds, such as if they are sick,
according to lawyers Luhut MP Pangaribuan and Frans Hendra
Winata.

They both agreed that Tommy's lawyers' action had disrupted
the legal process.

"Elza's detention has nothing to do with the hearing. There
are no grounds to avoid the court summons," Luhut told The
Jakarta Post on Friday.

Frans added that in the lawyers' code of ethics, the lawyers
must put aside Elza's case as they have to focus their attention
on their client.

Luhut noted that the court could actually try the lawyers for
contempt of court as avoiding a court summons was considered a
crime.

"There is no clear regulation on contempt of court, but in
fact, a panel of judges could do so, if necessary," he said.

Contempt of court refers to any action reflecting disrespect
for the court, such as yelling or doing something impolite in the
courtroom, as well as disobeying the court summons.

If a panel of judges considers that someone has committed
contempt of court, they could report it to the court chief. The
chief would then ask for the accused's defense. If the accused is
found guilty, the chief could report the crime to the police.

Unfortunately, courts here rarely report anyone to the police,
let alone a lawyer, for contempt of court.

"If a lawyer keeps refusing to attend his client's hearing, a
court here usually proceeds with the hearing despite their
absence, which could harm the defendant's interests," Frans
added.

The first contempt of court case involving lawyers occurred in
1987 at the Central Jakarta District Court.

At the time a panel of judges accused lawyer Adnan Buyung
Nasution of insulting the court when he shouted with his hands on
his hips during the hearing of HR Darsono, a former West Java
provincial military commander, in a subversion case.

The Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice later revoked
his license to practice law.

But in Tommy's hearing, Judge Amiruddin could do nothing but
grumble over the absence of the lawyers, while the judges had
rushed to the Jakarta Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta to
attend the hearing at 1:30 p.m.

Although he acceded to Tommy's request, Judge Amiruddin warned
that the hearing would resume next week with or without his
lawyers.