It’s Disorder in the Hotel as Rival Lawyers’ Groups Clash

Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda | September 23, 2010

Hundreds of lawyers from the Indonesian Bar Association (Peradi) and Indonesian Advocates Congress (KAI) came to blows over KAI’s status at a function on Wednesday in Jakarta’s Gran Melia Hotel. (Kompas Photo/Yuniadhi Agung)

Jakarta. The long-running feud between two rival bar associations turned ugly on Wednesday when the groups engaged in a brawl before an inauguration ceremony.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa had been scheduled to swear in lawyers from the Indonesian Bar Association (Peradi) at the Grand Melia Hotel in South Jakarta.

Peradi is formally recognized by the court as the only authorized bar association.

At 9 a.m., however, hundreds of lawyers from the Indonesian Advocates Congress (KAI), a rival group not recognized by the court, barged into the hotel and demanded the chief justice also swear in its members.

Outnumbers guards attempted to block the KAI members in the lobby, but they managed to enter the ballroom where the ceremony was to be held.

Chairs were knocked over and a few punches were thrown in the ensuing melee.

“At this point, we told the participants of the inauguration to exit the ballroom and we locked the doors to avoid further scuffles,” Peradi secretary general Hasanudin Nasution said.

Several KAI officials, including Tommy Sihotang and KAI president Indra Sahnun Lubis, asked to meet Harifin and Peradi chairman Otto Hasibuan.

“We were deeply hurt when we saw the announcement [for the inauguration] in Kompas this morning,” Indra said.

“This is discrimination and we suspect the court is conspiring with Peradi to prolong its monopoly. This is a disgrace.”

Dozens of police officers soon arrived at the scene, including South Jakarta Police Chief Sr. Comr. Gatot Eddy Pramono, who tried to calm both sides.

“I asked the Peradi chairman and the KAI president to have a peaceful talk with me about this matter,” Gatot said.

Hasanudin said that after the incident, Peradi called off the inauguration and informed Harifin, who had not yet arrived.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued a memo barring KAI lawyers from representing clients in court.

The court requires all lawyers with a KAI certificate to pass a Peradi examination before being allowed to practice.

The memo sparked protests from KAI members, around 100 of whom staged a rally and vandalized the Supreme Court building on July 14.

The rival organizations previously held a series of negotiations under the mediation of the Supreme Court, aimed at establishing a single bar association accommodating lawyers from both groups by 2012.

But Indra said that Wednesday’s planned inauguration violated the agreement.

Peradi was established in 2005 as a merger of eight bar associations, in accordance with a 2003 law requiring the establishment of a single nongovernmental organization to test and certify the country’s lawyers.

The Constitutional Court in 2006 upheld Peradi’s status as the official organization to issue certifications for lawyers.

But in July 2007, a number of prominent lawyers formed KAI, claiming that Peradi was legally flawed because it had been established only by a few individuals instead of a congress of lawyers.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, in this file photo, has been relieved of his duties following a judicial review of the 2004 AGO Law. (Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf)

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