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."