Honor council rebukes lawyers of Pollycarpus

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 03/15/2008 11:56 AM | National

A disciplinary council has rebuked two senior lawyers for breaching the advocates' code of ethics by attempting to influence witnesses in the murder trial of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib.

The Council of Honor established by the Indonesian Lawyers Association (Peradi) ruled Friday that Mohammad Assegaf and Wirawan Adnan were guilty of violating Article 7 of the Indonesian Advocates' Code of Ethics.

The code forbids advocates from taking any action that could influence witnesses testifying in court.

"We decided to punish them by issuing a strong reprimand," council chairman Alex R. Wangge said.

The two lawyers were also ordered to pay about Rp 3.5 million in court costs. The council stopped short of banning or suspending them from serving as advocates.

Assegaf and Wirawan have 21 days to respond to the verdict.

Assegaf and Wirawan represented Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, an off-duty pilot aboard the Garuda flight on Sept. 7, 2004 on which Munir died from arsenic poisoning.

The Supreme Court sentenced the pilot to 20 years in prison for involvement in the murder, widely linked to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

During the Supreme Court trial, Assegaf and Wirawan sent BIN a letter asking it to confirm the identify of its agents who testified against Pollycarpus and the intelligence agency.

Their testimonies were documented by prosecutors, who read them out in court.

The Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (KASUM) suspected this was an attempt by the lawyers to influence witnesses and reported them to Peradi last August.

The letter was not intended to influence witnesses, said Thomas E. Tampubolon, a lawyer for Assegaf and Wirawan.

He said his clients sent the letter only to clarify the witnesses' identities.

"They said they were BIN members. We wanted to check whether this information was true or not," said Thomas, adding his clients would appeal the verdict.

Asfinawati of KASUM dismissed Thomas' argument.

She cited the last part of the letter, which stated "the clarification was not only important for Pollycarpus but also for the reputation of BIN because the agency was implicated in the case".

"This letter could provoke BIN into preventing its officials from giving further testimony," Asfinawati said.

She said the letter could influence the BIN witnesses to change the testimonies they had presented to prosecutors.

Asfinawati also questioned why Assegaf and Wirawan sent the letter before the court had even opened the trial

"Not only did they mention the witnesses' names in the letter, but they also unveiled the content of their testimony," she said.

Daniel Panjaitan, a member of the honor council, said although Assegaf and Wirawan never met the witnesses, they could still influence them.

"An attempt to influence can be made indirectly in ways like sending a letter to the BIN chairman," he said.

Assegaf is also known as a defense lawyer for major corruption suspects. (alf)

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