Jakarta – The wife of the late Munir, Suciwati, accompanied by representatives of the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir and senior legal practitioner Adnan Buyung Nasution, met with the head of the Supreme Court, Bagir Manan, on Monday June 26. They were asking the Chief Justice to reexamine the evidence in the Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto case.
“The Chief Justice has the authority to examine the facts if it is seen as necessary. This is in accordance with Article 253 Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Procedural Code (KUHAP)”, said Puji Kartika Rahayu from the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir.
According to Rahayu, the examination conducted previously by the District Court and the High Court was inadequate. He gave as an example the application of Criminal Code Article 55 that led to the statement that Priyanto did not act alone.
“But this was not elaborated on. We hope that this final avenue can be delved into more deeply, the issue of the application of Article 55”, he said. He stated that they were not attempting look into the area of the case materials.
Rahayu said that during the meeting Manan declared that he would discuss the matter with the other supreme justices in order to look at its applicability.
Nasution meanwhile, stated that they are hoping that the Chief Justice will reexamine the case if there are instances of irregularities, carelessness or abnormalities in the verdict. “This procedure can be done at the level of an appeal to the Supreme Court especially if the District Court and the High Court have not been careful enough”, said Nasution.
Priyanto was sentenced to 14 years jail by the Central Jakarta District Court. The verdict was upheld by the Jakarta High Court. During the hearing at the High Court however, there were dissenting opinions among the panel of judges. The two judges that held a dissenting view were presiding Judge Basuki and Judge Sri Handoyo. The other three judges hearing the case were Mohammad Saleh, Untung Hariadi and Rusdy As’ad. (ana)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
