Tosari denies charges of insulting Supreme Court

Tosari denies charges of insulting Supreme Court

JAKARTA (JP): The secretary-general of the United Development
Party (PPP), Tosari Widjaya, shrugged off allegations yesterday
that he insulted the Supreme Court through a statement he made in
a magazine.

Tosari claimed the charges voiced by the Association of
Indonesian Lawyers (IPHI) -- based on what he said in a interview
with Ummat weekly -- was just a misinterpretation of what he said
regarding the party's on-going court case against a dissenting
PPP member.

Tosari was quoted by the magazine in its Aug. 11 issue as
saying: "The PPP central board won't accept the Supreme Court's
ruling if it rules in favor of Rodja. We won't follow the ruling.
What rights does the court have anyway?"

Mohammad Rodja is a PPP member who filed a lawsuit against the
party's central board for annulling a 1995 decision made during a
regional party meeting, which elected Arifin Arbain as chairman
of PPP's Jakarta chapter.

Rodja, a supporter of Arifin, insists the decision was
legitimate.

The party's central board, however, took a different stance,
which led to Rodja filing the lawsuit nearly two years ago.

The Central Jakarta District Court and the Jakarta High Court
have ruled in favor of Rodja to proceed with his case.

The courts' ruling is now pending the Supreme Court's ruling,
after the party's central board stated that the courts have no
right to try the case, since it is an internal party matter and
has already been settled under the party's organizational
statutes.

Tosari said if he inappropriately expressed his views about
the court case, he would apologize.

"I'm not sure if I uttered those exact words, but if I did,
then I have to clarify what I said." Tosari told The Jakarta
Post.

He said he would never intentionally insult the Supreme Court.

"We wouldn't have appealed to the Supreme Court, if we had
intentions of insulting it. We will uphold the law," he said,
with a conciliatory tone.

IPHI, through a letter dated Aug. 5, urged Chief Justice
Sarwata to take "concrete steps" against Tosari, whom they said
insulted one of the country's highest institutions. The letter
was signed by its chairman, Yan Juanda, and secretary-general
Indra Sahnun Lubis

Tosari said yesterday that he hoped there were no political
motives behind the charges brought forward by the association.
(aan)