Top-notch lawyers hired to defend governor

Top-notch lawyers hired to defend governor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration is hiring three top-notch lawyers
to defend itself in a class action suit filed by flood victims
who are demanding compensation for the losses they incurred as a
result of the February floods.

The flood victims, on the other hand, are being assisted free-
of-charge by various legal aid institutes in the city. The
governor's decision to hire top private lawyers sparked criticism
from city councillors on Friday.

"Hiring private lawyers means Governor Sutiyoso no longer
trusts his legal officers from the Jakarta Legal Office. We also
demand a transparent explanation about the lawyers' fees,"
councillor Posman Siahaan, a member of City Council Commission A
for Administrative and Legal Affairs, told reporters.

Posman of the Unity and Justice Party urged the administration
to give an explanation, saying the money would be taken from the
city budget.

One reason cited for appointing the lawyers was the recent
case lost by the administration in a class action suit filled by
pedicab drivers and other disadvantaged people, who sued the
administration for conducting public order raids.

Sutiyoso officially met the three lawyers -- M. Assegaf, Yan
Juanda Saputra and R.E. Abikusno -- at City Hall on Friday.

"The fee is reasonable. We'll find the amount (from the
budget)," Sutiyoso told reporters after the meeting.

Two of the lawyers are renowned due to their high-profile
clients.

Assegaf is currently a lawyer of president Soeharto, his son
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra -- who is being tried for murdering
Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, illegal
possession of firearms and absconding from justice -- and Central
Bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin, who was sentenced to three years
in prison after being found guilty in the Bank Bali case but
remains free.

Yan Juanda is former president B.J. Habibie's lawyer.

The fee for each lawyer reportedly reaches US$400 per hour for
legal consultation. Reports said should they go to court, the
team of lawyers were entitled to 10 percent of the "value" of the
case.

City spokesman Muhayat claimed the lawyers were hired to help
city legal officers, especially, in facing the class action suit
filed by the victims.

"It's not because we don't trust our legal officers. The
lawyers are just helping our officers," he said.

The administration is facing a class action suit from 14
representatives of flood victims. They filed the suit at the
Central Jakarta District Court on March 13, demanding the
President, the Jakarta Governor and West Java Governor pay
compensation of more than Rp 2.7 billion ($270,000).

The victims were assisted by 32 lawyers, mostly from the
Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH). They accused the government of
failing to providing sufficient warning of the imminent floods,
and causing damage and losses to residents during the floods in
late January and early February.

The plaintiffs said more than 97,300 families or 365,000
people had to leave their houses and seek temporary shelter due
to the huge floods that paralyzed the city.

Declining to mention his fee, Assegaf revealed his team of
lawyers would first study the suit before facing the first
hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

"In the case of the class action by the pedicab drivers, we
have appealed to the Jakarta High Court," he told reporters.

Assegaf claimed the Central Jakarta District Court had only
accused the administration of conducting public order raids
without proper documents.

"The court did not decide that the public order operation was
unlawful. It was only the procedure."