Civil Coalition Disappointed over Delayed Verdict on Air Pollution Case

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Jakarta District Court has again postponed the reading of the verdict of the citizen lawsuit related to air pollution in the capital city. The verdict hearing was supposed to take place today, June 10, 2021.

Ayu Ezra Tiara as the attorney of the 32 plaintiffs said that in the trial which lasted less than five minutes, Chief Justice Saifuddin Zuhri announced the trial was postponed because the panel of judges needed time to study and deliberate the decision.

Ayu expressed disappointment. According to her, the reading of the verdict which took up to eight weeks was not normal. “This is clear evidence of the poor time management of the judicial process and the violation of the principle of a fast, simple, and low-cost judicial system as stipulated in Article 2 (4) of Law Number 48 of 2009 concerning Judicial Power,” Ayu said in a written statement today.

With another delay, Ayu argued that the panel of judges indirectly postponed the fulfillment of the people’s right to be able to breathe clean air. The trial verdict was initially scheduled for May 20.

The Capital Coalition submitted a citizen lawsuit over Jakarta's air pollution to the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday, July 4, 2019. The lawsuit was addressed to President Joko Jokowi Widodo, Minister of Environment and Forestry, Minister of Health, Minister of Home Affairs, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, West Java Governor, and Banten Governor.

Read: Anies Baswedan Addresses Urgency in Reducing Air Pollution amid Pandemic

ADAM PRIREZA