Trial on Bojong dump clash begins

Trial on Bojong dump clash begins

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor/Jakarta

The trials of 17 defendants of the Nov. 22 bloody clash in Bojong
garbage treatment facility, Bogor regency, started on Wednesday
at the Cibinong District Court.

In the trial that took place in three sessions, the defendants
were charged with violating Article 170 of the Criminal Code on
violent behavior.

In the indictment, prosecutors accused the defendants of
having destroyed private property, including the plant's
buildings, cars and equipment. They also used weapons and
explosives during the violent clash. The protest involved around
1,000 protesters.

Another defendant, 15-year-old Atang Ombak, stood trial in a
separate closed trial on similar charges. However, the court
decided to postpone Atang's detention considering he is still a
minor.

The prosecutors said the defendants had caused the plant
operator PT Wira Guna Sejahtera to suffer Rp 8 billion
(US$860,215) in material losses.

In Central Jakarta, around 200 Bojong residents representing
seven villages around the plant held a rally in front of the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), demanding the
rights commission establish a special team to investigate human
rights violations in the bloody clash.

Erwin Usman of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment
(Walhi) said the protesters demanded that Komnas explain the
definition of a human rights violation. "We want to know their
opinion on the Bojong incident."

Komnas chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara told the
protesters that the commission had made recommendations to the
National Police over the incident.

"It is one of the projects that violates human rights as
locals were not involved in the decision making process to build
the facility," he said as quoted by Antara.