VZCZCXRO3777
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #9996 2201110
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081110Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8480
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY IMMEDIATE 3206
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUCNFB/DIR FBI WASHDC IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS JAKARTA 009996
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
FBI PLS PASS TO CTD/ITOS I, CTD/ITOS II, GOU
SECSTATE FOR EAP/MTS AND DS/DSS, DS/IP/EAP, DS/EAP/ITA, AND
CA/OCS/ACS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC CASC KJUS ID
SUBJECT: TIMIKA TRIAL: DEFENSE FILES "EXCEPTION MOTION"
REF: A. JAKARTA 8958 TIMIKA TRIAL OPENS
B. JAKARTA 9697 TIMIKA TRIAL: DEFENDANTS
UNCOOPERATIVE
1. (U) After several weeks of delay, the trial of the seven
men accused of killing two Amcits in Timika, Papua in 2002
took a small step forward as defense attorneys submitted a
24-page "motion for exception" to the charges to the three
judge panel. Although essentially just another delay tactic,
the submission of the motion does constitute a tacit
acceptance of the judges' authority over the defendants,
something that the defense has not previously acknowledged.
Defense attorney Johnson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal
Aid Society (PBHI) read the document, entitled "America Seeks
Justice in Bandit Country," into the record. The document
ostensibly aims to convince the panel of judges to either
throw out the indictments or to move the trial back to
Timika.
2. (U) The motion makes three main arguments, most of them
familiar. First, the defense claims, the trial is simply a
political show put on by the GOI according to the dictates of
the U.S. Second, they claim that the Central Jakarta Court
is incompetent to try the case and that it should be returned
to Timika. Third, they claim the dossier submitted by the
police investigators in the case does not conform to legally
accepted standards. Next week the prosecution will have an
opportunity to reply to the motion for exception, and in two
weeks the judges will make a decision as to whether to accept
the defense motion or move on with witness examination.
3. (SBU) According to a lawyer familiar with the case, the
document filed by the defense is not really a legal motion at
all, but rather a political statement intended to please the
defendants and further delay the proceedings. Our contact
confidently predicted that the motion for exception would be
denied and that the trial would progress to witness
testimony. We expect American witnesses to start being
called in early to mid-September.
PASCOE