Witness held 'hostage' during unionist's trial

JAKARTA (JP): The court trying labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan was marked yesterday with an incident in which presiding Judge Djazuli P. Sudibyo decided to hold a witness "hostage" for allegedly giving false testimony.

Djazuli ordered Berar Fathia be isolated in a guarded room so she could "clearly reconsider" the statements she had just made before the court. After about three hours, Berar was again presented to the court and ordered to continue with her testimony.

Pakpahan's defense lawyers protested the decision by the judge of the South Jakarta District Court, saying it was legally unfounded.

"I'll take the responsibility for that," Djazuli retorted.

Berar was a relatively unknown activist of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) who shot to prominence when she announced last year she would run for president in 1998. She had only given about 15 minutes of testimony yesterday when the judge accused her of perjury, and ordered the prosecutors to take her out of the court room and to "hold her hostage".

Berar was summoned by the prosecution to testify against Muchtar Pakpahan, who is standing trial for allegedly undermining the state ideology Pancasila and defaming President Soeharto.

Yesterday, Berar said she did not remember the "exact wording" of the anti-government and anti-Soeharto speeches that Pakpahan allegedly made on various occasions between June and July last year.

Djazuli said Berar's testimony contradicted what she had previously told the interrogators and which was included in the dossier on Pakpahan. The judge then ordered her to retract her statements yesterday.

In the dossier, Berar said she remembered Pakpahan making anti-government statements, including one which said President Soeharto should be taken to court for upsetting the country's rules of law.

Berar said: "The statements in the dossier were those that I made when I was not under oath, and I thought then that in court I would be able to tell the truth, just like I did just now. Is that wrong?"

Berar said during investigation police interrogators wore her down by posing the same questions over and over so that she eventually agreed to sign the dossier regardless of the content.

The other prosecution witnesses testifying against Pakpahan yesterday were his fellow activists from the independent Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI): Mehbob, Rekson Silaban, Azrizal Noor and Sulistri. Another witness taking the stand yesterday was Umar Husin, the secretary-general of a new mass organization Masyumi.

Pakpahan told the court he had no objections to the witnesses' testimonies.

Separately at the Central Jakarta District Court, Catholic priest Ignatius Sandyawan Sumardi testified he had been thinking only of extending help when he decided to shelter Budiman Sudjatmiko, the leader of the banned Democratic People's Party (PRD) currently standing trial for subversion.

Sandyawan said he and other volunteers formed an independent rescue center to help victims of the July 27 riots.

"One day someone claiming to be Yakob called the center and asked me for shelter. When I went to the agreed spot, Budiman and another one called Petrus were also there, along with Yakobus. They looked very frightened," said Sandyawan.

Besides Budiman, eight PRD activists including Yakobus Eko Kurniawan and Petrus Hariyanto are also being tried for subversion.

"I did not know them before. So, spontaneously I took them to my brother's house. He frequently helps me shelter my 'children'," said Sandyawan who actively helps street children.

"Budiman told me he was afraid he would be arbitrarily arrested. He also said he was frightened because, following the riot, the military issued a 'shoot on the spot' order," he said.

The priest testified he found out about Budiman's position as the chairman of the PRD from the mass media. (35/08)