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Medan, Indonesia -The plaintiffs in the landmark air pollution case filed with the authorities in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta hope that after months of delay, when the court opens again on Thursday, they will finally hear the verdict in their case.
The verdict was originally scheduled for May 20, but it was postponed. On September 9, a panel of three judges failed to reach a verdict for the eighth time.
Chief Justice H Saifudin Zuhri apologized for failing to read the case documents and mentioned Previous delays, Which includes several members of the court, such as clerks and judges infected with COVID-19, and an “overwhelming” number of court documents and evidence packages.
Istu Prayogi now lives in Depok, a satellite city on the outskirts of Jakarta, to escape the worst air in the Indonesian capital. He is one of the 32 plaintiffs in an air pollution “citizen lawsuit” that started in the past two years. The purpose is to pursue the government’s failure Responsibility to ensure the right of Jakarta residents to breathe clean air.
Istu Prayogi, one of the 32 plaintiffs in the air pollution “citizen lawsuit”, is frustrated by the long delay in the verdict. His T-shirt says “Jakarta vs Air Pollution” [Courtesy of Istu Prayogi]He previously told Al Jakarta that the dirty air in Jakarta caused him great pain in the 1990s, when he had to deal with frequent shortness of breath, severe headaches and nasal congestion. After failing to deliver the judgment for the eighth time, Istu stated that although active medication has cured some of his health problems, including lung spots, he was deeply dissatisfied with the legal process and described Indonesian law as “blunt.” Device”.
“If you want justice, it’s like the law of the jungle,” he said.
According to the World Air Quality Index, the city’s population is estimated to exceed 10 million, and it is often listed as one of the most polluted cities in the world.
Lack of urgency
Another plaintiff, Elisa Sutanudjaja, told Al Jazeera that she “feels angry and worried” due to the ongoing delays. After becoming a mother, Elisa was initially interested in this case, first worrying about the impact of the smoke in Jakarta on her unborn child and young daughter.
“The postponement only adds additional evidence that air pollution and climate crisis issues are not the country’s main priorities, and the judiciary does not consider the issue of poor air quality to be urgent,” she said.
“In addition, we are in the midst of a pandemic, but the state does not seem to show a commitment to public health.”
Elisa added that she is also concerned that many other environmentally unfriendly projects in the capital have received the green light-including a double-decker toll road and a waste incinerator-while civil lawsuits have been stranded in the court system.
After the recent postponement, the Clean Air Initiative, composed of the plaintiffs in the citizen suit and their advocacy team, issued a statement expressing disappointment at the slow process.
The plaintiff’s legal counsel, Ayu Eza Tiara, stated that they had written to the Judicial Committee and the Supreme Court’s supervisory authority regarding the postponement of the verdict, and reported to three judges, H Saifudin Zuhri, Duta Baskara and Tuty. Haryati, for delaying the case and possibly violating judicial ethics.
“We agree to report suspected violations of the code of ethics to the panel of judges, and we also require the Judicial Committee and the Supreme Court to monitor the case. The delay usually occurs only once and only lasts for about a week, but in this case, it takes a sentence to be read. More than three months,” Ayu said.
The Jakarta court started hearing the case more than 700 days ago [File: Bagus Indahono/EPA]She also added that the coalition of legal counsel and the plaintiff was disappointed that the court seemed to prioritize other cases because the judgment of the citizen suit was initially postponed to September 13 but was later postponed to September 16.
“In court, the original date was cancelled because the panel of judges said there are many more pressing corruption cases than air pollution. Of course, this statement is very sad,” Ayu said.
‘Stakeholders’
Alghifari Aqsa of AMAR Law Firm, who participated in each trial, added that “the prolonged delay in reading the judgment of this case may trigger the feeling that the parties concerned are lobbying outside the court”.
Earlier, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan blamed the plaintiff and Jakarta residents for urban pollution. However, there is no evidence that the central or provincial government lobbied in this case.
The defendants in the case include the President of Indonesia, the Minister of Environment and Forestry, the Minister of Interior, the Governor of Jakarta, and the Governors of Banten and West Java Provinces.
Jakarta’s severe air pollution is blamed on the city’s heavy traffic as well as coal-fired power stations and industries [File: Raisan Al Farisi/Antara Foto via Reuters]Aljfari pointed out that more than 700 days have passed since the lawsuit was filed on July 4, 2019, and urged the court to take the case seriously, taking into account the weight of the evidence collected by the plaintiff’s legal team.
“The judge should know that this case is very serious because the plaintiff is a victim of air pollution,” Aljfari said. “Then the witnesses we brought in. All the data provided prove that air pollution has had a huge impact on our society.”
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