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Court starts trial despite absence of city officials

The Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday held a court session to try a class action lawsuit from Facebook users who opposed the erection of the “Barry dreams come true” statue in Menteng Park, Central Jakarta

Eny Wulandari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, February 12, 2010

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Court starts trial despite absence of city officials

T

he Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday held a court session to try a class action lawsuit from Facebook users who opposed the erection of the “Barry dreams come true” statue in Menteng Park, Central Jakarta.

During the short hearing, a panel of judges verified the identities of the five plaintiffs representing more than 50,000 Facebook users who had joined a movement called “Take Down the Obama Statue from Menteng Park” set up on the social networking site.

“We will resume the hearing next Wednesday and again summon representatives of the defendants because none of them were present,” presiding judge Marsudin Nainggolan said.

The five plaintiffs — Heru Nugroho, Protus Tanuhandaru, Daniel Rudi Haryanto, Andes Soesman and FX Agung Bimo Sutedjo — filed the suit against the governor, the mayor and the Jakarta Parks and Cemeteries Agency, saying the statue didn’t deserve a place at the park because Obama did not contribute significantly to Indonesia.

Johan Arifin, an official from Central Jakarta Municipality’s legal affairs division, was present but left the court after being kept waiting until 10 a.m. The judges began the trial after a four hour delay at 1 p.m.

Before the trial, Johan said the municipality had not received the lawsuit, so it had not formulated any response to it.

“The court secretary promised to submit the suit to us,” he said.

In the trial, the judges called on the plaintiffs and their lawyers to submit preliminary evidence to confirm they represented the Facebook users protesting the presence of the statue at the public park.

“This is important in deciding whether the plaintiffs have the right to represent those rejecting the statue’s presence,” Marsudin said.

In response to the judges’ request, Abdul Hadi Lubis, a lawyer from the Indonesian Human Rights and Legal Aid Association (PBHI), said he would present printouts of parts of the web page to show the plaintiffs’ roles as administrators of the community.

“If possible, we will invite them to attend the trial,” Andes Soesman, one of the plaintiffs, said after the trial.

He added that he and other plaintiffs would move on with their suit despite statements from Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo over the possible removal of the statue from the park to the Besuki elementary school where Obama studied for four years.

“We will withdraw the lawsuit only if the city administration publicly apologizes for its undemocratic policy that does not respect public opinion,” Andes said.

Jakarta Legal Aid Institute director Nurkholis Hidayat said the lawsuit didn’t represent the feelings of all of the city’s residents.

“The lawsuit is valid only for those who feel the statue is inappropriate,” he said.

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