Jenny Grant, Jakarta – An Indonesian court ruled yesterday that activists who tried to hold a meeting to "elect" a new president were legally arrested and detained by police earlier this month.

The North Jakarta District Court was guarded by 60 riot police carrying semi-automatic weapons, and scores of plainclothes intelligence agents.

"The police arrest has fulfilled the legal criteria," Chief Judge Soeparto told the packed court, which erupted into jeers against the verdict.

Actress Ratna Sarumpaet and five colleagues were suing the North Jakarta chief and the city police chief for detaining them for more than 24 hours without an arrest warrant.

The activists held a People's Summit at a park in North Jakarta on March 10, the day President Suharto was appointed to a seventh term in office. The group planned to elect their own "people's president", but the meeting was broken up by police before it began.

"By deciding such a verdict you have created your own law," plaintiff lawyer Petrus Balapatyona yelled at the judge after he read the verdict, ordering the defendants to pay symbolic damages of 3,000 rupiah (HK$30) each.

Lawyers said the verdict now opened the way for the full trial of the six activists, who have been charged under a 1963 law for holding a political meeting without a police permit. The charge carries a maximum five years in jail.

An emotional Sarumpaet was escorted out of the court by armed police. Dozens of her supporters cheered "long live Ratna!" An American diplomat at the hearing said Washington was monitoring the trial.

"We are very concerned about the course of justice in Indonesia and this case illustrates that," said Ed McWilliams, political counsellor at the US Embassy.