Pramudya's claim over his seized house rejected

AFP

Kabar dari PIJAR

Indonesian court rejects Pramudya's claim over his seized house

JAKARTA, Nov 5 (AFP) - An Indonesian court here Tuesday rejected a case filed by the wife of leading author Pramudya Ananta Tur to reclaim their house, which was commandeered by the military thirty years ago.

"The claim of the plaintiff cannot be accepted," judge Shofinan Sumantri said, reading out the verdict at the Central Jakarta district court.

The suit was filed by Pramudya's wife, Maemunah Thamrin, 67, claiming ownership of a house in the Rawamangun area of Jakarta, which the military commandeered for use as an officer's dormitory in 1966.

Pramudya was arrested and detained earlier that year for his alleged involvement with the now-outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which had been blamed for an abortive coup attempt in 1965.

Pram, as the author is commonly known, had then been a leading member of the pro-communist Lekra cultural organisation. He was jailed without trial for 14 years, including 10 years in a labor camp, following the bloody 1965 attempted coup.

Sumantri said the case was wrongly filed against the two co-defendants: the current tenant, Lieutenant Colonel Rachmat Sidarto, and the defence minister, because the order to commandeer the house had been issued by the head of the Jakarta Military Command at the time.

"The case was declared unacceptable because the head of the Jakarta military command as the one who issued the order was not included and because it also included the defence minister, who has nothing to do with the case, as one of the defendants," Sumantri said.

Pramudya and his wife declined to comment after the trial, refering comment to their lawyer, Mohamad Ali Rozal. Rozal said he planned to appeal, "even though we will have to go on up to the Supreme Court."

Rozal expressed disappointment that Supreme Court jurisprudence, which he had repeatedly cited during the six month-trial, had not been considered by the judges.

He said this concerned a Supreme Court verdict on a similar case, in which the court ruled that any case concerning the commandeering of houses by the military should be made against the defence minister.

Pramudya is one of Indonesia's best known authors, but almost all his books, including those written during and after his imprisonment, have been banned by the government following publication.

Besides being barred from travelling overseas since his release by the current government in the late 1970s, the writer is also closely watched by security officials.

AFP Rozal said there were some 300 former political prisoners detained following the 1965 coup attempt who were considering filing similar suits.

bs/lis/pse

Note: I'm told the suit amounts to some 450 million rupiah in back rent. --agb.