Trimoelja, the David of Indonesian legal circles

By Imanuddin

JAKARTA (JP): Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, the winner of this year's Yap Thiam Hien human rights award, could be aptly described as the David of Indonesian legal circles.

His diminutive figure -- he is only 160 centimeters tall -- and the big court cases he takes on create an unforgettable contrast. Especially given that many of the cases he is involved put him on the side opposing government bodies.

The Surabaya-based lawyer, who runs his own small law firm, will receive the award today from the Foundation for the Center for the Study of Human Rights in recognition of his tireless efforts to promote human rights in the country.

Born in Surabaya 55 years ago, Trimoelja said he chose a career in law because it provided him with an opportunity to do something concrete for the people.

It could have been a political career. He served in the Surabaya City Council from 1971 to 1976, representing the ruling political group Golkar.

But Trimoelja decided that politics in Indonesia had its limitations in terms of making his contribution to society felt. A career in the legal profession offers many more opportunities.

He has never looked back since. Instead over the years, he has taken on more and more controversial cases, making him unpopular in some circles, notorious in others.

His home and his office have been the target of many hate- terror campaigns, including death threats, which he believes were related to the cases he was handling.

In 1986 for example, he defended a married couple of Chinese descent who were accused of physically abusing their housemaids. In 1992, he defended David Hendra, a Christian priest charged with disgracing Moslem people. In 1981 he sued the government for raising the TV license fee, accusing the defendant of arbitrary action.

His prominence rose to a peak this year when he took the case of Judi Susanto, owner of a watchmaking factory who was accused of masterminding the killing of labor activist Marsinah, an employee of the company, in May last year.

The government, under strong domestic and international pressure to bring the killers to justice, pressed hard for the convictions of Judi and eight other company staff.

Trimoelja took on the case that not only pitted him against the government, but also against the opinion of the public, which was almost convinced that the government had the real murderers.

Judi and the other defendants were subsequently convicted of the murder. However, all nine maintained that they were innocent and victims of a frame-up. They also alleged that they were tortured by their interrogators, who were determined to extract incriminating statements from them.

The break for Judi, and Trimoelja, came just last month. The Surabaya High Court overturned the guilty verdict and the 17-year prison term meted out to Judi by the District Court.

Trimoelja said he fought his court battles out of conviction.

"The condition of Indonesian courts is still appalling," he said in a recent interview. "In criminal cases, people still have their rights trampled and violated."

He said violations occur during arrest and interrogation.

Human rights have been his concern since his student days when he spent most of his time as an activist at the expense of his studies. He is not unlike the late Yap Thiam Hien, Indonesia's staunch human rights lawyer who died in 1989, and whose name has now been inscribed in the annals of human rights with the establishment of the award.

But it wasn't Yap that inspired Trimoelja to be courageous.

"I knew him, but not that well," he said when asked whether Yap had any impact on him. "It was my father," he said, recalling that his late father had his own law firm where he spent two years as an apprentice before going out on his own.

Trimoelja married Diah Eko Rahayu in 1976 and they have three children.