Witnesses' absence divides law experts

JAKARTA (JP): A criminologist and a former supreme court justice have expressed different opinions over the absence of main witnesses in two recently concluded trials.

University of Indonesia's Adrianus Meliala said recently that for trials to be concluded satisfactorily, main witnesses should be heard.

Adrianus, a criminologist, said in cases where witnesses did not appear, their written testimony should be used instead, because it was legally binding.

"But the difficulty in presenting a witness is due to several reasons, such as if he or she is nowhere to be found, and sometimes this makes judges and prosecutors impatient," he said.

He also said such the psychological tactics of law enforcers could affect the trial process and the verdict.

"Cases such as Zarina's and Eng San's got serious press coverage, and the fact that the investigation was difficult made them even more eager to finish the proceedings as soon as possible," he added.

Eng San was sentenced to 17 years in jail Thursday by the North Jakarta District Court for his role in the murder of Nyo Beng Seng, his business rival. But his main witnesses were not present because all of them lived abroad and the court gave no additional time for the defense lawyers to contact them.

Zarina was convicted earlier this month of storing thousands of ecstasy pills.

In contrast former supreme court justice Bismar Siregar said that judges had the prerogative to decide whether a case should be concluded or not.

"If the judge thinks the case has dragged on for too long and lawyers and prosecutors have not presented their witnesses for whatever reason, then the court could come to a final conclusion," Bismar said.

He said that if the dossiers submitted by police interrogators, and witnesses' and defendant's statements during the hearings were enough for the judge to reach a conclusion then the trial should not go on longer than was absolutely necessary.

Bismar said he believed there had been no conspiracy in either the Eng San or Zarina cases. "I understand a lot of people have said that there was collusion behind the verdicts but I have faith in the judges and believe they gave fair verdicts," he said.

"Don't think that all trials are being engineered," he added.

Bismar said that the length of time needed for a trial would affect the detention of the defendant. "And if we neglect the matter it would create another problem, thereby making the case drag on and on," he said. (12)