Two men from the People's Democratic Party, PRD, facing subversion charges, presented their objections Monday to the charges that were made against them at the first hearing in their trial last week.
In one courtroom, Wilson said in a seventeen page document that that the political verdict against his party had already been passed on 29 July last year by Minister-Coordinator Soesilo Soedarman when he announced that the PRD was behind the riots that occurred on 27 July in Jakarta. The press had also played a role in establishing their 'guilt' by spreading slanders that appeared daily in the media.
He told the court that his party only wanted to express the true feelings of the people. "We are the generation born on the golden bridge of the New Order and we know all about the abundance of wealth that has poured onto the bridge with nothing seeping down below. Although we will accept the prison sentences that will be passed against us as the consequence of what we have done, the verdicts will add to the sense of injustice felt by the people.'
Being tried on similar charges in a separate court was I Gusti Anom Astika whose lawyer told the court that many violations of the procedural code had been perpetrated during the pre-trial interrogations. Regarding the substance of the charges, Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara said that holding discussions, helping workers, setting up organisations, drafting speeches and publishing alternative publications cannot be categorised as crimes. 'It is a crime for someone to express his thoughts and opinions as guaranteed in the Constitution?' he asked.
Mmeanwhile, at the trial of Mochtar Pakpahan, also taking place on the same day, a witness, Tohab Simanungkalit denied saying that he had heard the defendant calling for Suharto to be put on trial. Nor had he ever heard Pakpahan expression opposition to the army's dual function.
The judge refused to act on a request from the defendant for special medical examination because he was still ailing. The judge said that this was not a matter for him. All he was responsible for was presiding over the court case.