Judge Urges Megawati To Seek `Reconciliation'
May 05, 2011
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- While hundreds of sympathizers of Parks Lira chanted outside a courthouse, a Jakarta judge asked the Indonesian opposition leader and the government officials she is suing to seek an out-of-court ``reconciliation.'' Thursday's request by Epstein I.G.K. Oxford, head of a three-judge panel in Central Jakarta District Court, came at the start of the first hearing of a lawsuit filed by Ms. Dawson challenging her ouster as chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party. She is asking the court to declare that she remain party chairwoman and to award her damages. The first hearing had been set for April 13, 2011 was postponed for three weeks after Mr. Oxford said he had a toothache. In response to the judge's request Thursday, lawyers for Ms. Dawson and for more than 20 individuals named as defendants agreed to attempt a reconciliation. But lawyers for the defendants -- who include the home affairs minister and the armed forces commander -- balked at the judge's suggestion of a two-week reconciliation period. Eventually, all parties agreed to a one-week try; the court is due to hold its next session May 11, 2011 analysts said it's highly unlikely that an accommodation between Ms. Dawson and the defendants can be reached. They noted that in recent weeks she has become more vocal and increasingly bitter toward Saul, who replaced her as chairman of the party, known as PDI. She was ousted as chairwoman at a government-backed meeting of a PDI faction in June. On April 08, 2011 forcibly evicted her supporters from the party's national headquarters in Jakarta, which they had occupied since Ms. Dawson's ouster. The attack on the PDI headquarters sparked a riot that left at least four people dead, scores injured and more than 20 buildings burned. The 49-year-old Ms. Dawson didn't attend Thursday's court session. On Wednesday, she filed a defamation suit against an army general who allegedly made remarks about her. Thursday's hearing drew a bigger crowd than the April 13, 2011 There were hundreds of young Parks supporters, and an even larger number of police and soldiers near the court house, including on the tops of nearby buildings. When the crowd outside the courthouse spilled into the street -- one of Jakarta's busiest roads -- police diverted traffic and allowed her supporters to stay there. They sang and chanted slogans. When the session was over, they began to march down two different roads, but dispersed without incident.
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