Witnesses give testimony defending accused Yorrys

JAKARTA (JP): The defense lawyer for Yorrys Raweyai, a prominent figure of Pemuda Pancasila being tried for organizing a gambling den, presented two witnesses yesterday at the West Jakarta District Court.

The two witnesses were security guards working at the storehouse of Abidin, one of the other six defendants on trial, where the gambling activities allegedly took place. They are Kasan Sudia, 30, and Salim Ardim, 40.

The police team raided Abidin's storehouse on Jl. Daan Mogot 125, West Jakarta on July 29 at 9.30 p.m. after two police officers claimed that they had witnessed some people gambling on the third floor.

"My duty was to guard the front side of the house and to open the main gate every time people came to see my boss, but that night all I saw were three Kijang vans entering the courtyard. Then the police took my boss (Yorrys) and his guests," Salim said.

Salim told presiding judge Ismail Sebayang that on the night of July 29, when police raided the storehouse, he did not see anybody carrying a ladder to see what was happening on the third floor of the storehouse.

Sgt. Markus, one of the two witnessing officers, earlier told the judge that on July 29 at 8 p.m. that he and five other officers were ordered by their superior to raid the storehouse while the gambling was in action.

Markus said he entered the storehouse by using a portable aluminum ladder to climb the back wall. He said that the ladder was put on a pile of plywood so he could see the room filled with people, some of whom were sitting around a table playing cards.

Meanwhile, Kasan, whose duty was to guard the storehouse backyard, told the judges that he also did not see anybody climb the back wall or carrying a ladder.

Impossible

He added that it was impossible for the police to have put their aluminum ladder on the plywood to witness because the woodpile was located far from the window.

Salim has been working for Abidin since 1979 and Kasan since 1990.

In the previous sessions Yorrys and the other defendants were upset by the testimony given by Markus and Kasan.

Yorrys, the day-to-day chairman of Pemuda Pancasila youth organization, along with 14 other alleged gamblers, was apprehended on July 29 for allegedly organizing games of chance at the storehouse.

The police released seven of the arrested, of whom four were women, because they were not gambling when the police raided the house. But the remaining seven, including Yorrys, are being tried in two separate trials by the same judge and prosecutors.

Presiding judge Ismail Sebayang adjourned the trial until Dec. 13 to hear testimonies to be given by other witnesses.(mas)