JAKARTA: Several well-known scholars and lawyers have banded together in an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in support of a lawsuit against Culture Minister Fadli Zon’s denial of the 1998 mass rapes, as an expert witness testified that his statement perpetuated a culture of impunity.
In the brief filed earlier this week, 18 law professors and legal practitioners grouped under the Constitution and Administrative Law Society (CALS) urged the Jakarta State Administrative Court to consider legal and social impacts arising from Fadli’s denial, particularly on the rape victims and their families.
“Public statements made by officials are not merely personal opinions but considered public policy, as they are delivered in an official capacity and could influence public perceptions,” the group said on Tuesday (Feb 24).
“We [the amici] agree that such statements should consider principles of accountability and empathy.” Among the amici are constitutional law professors Susi Dwi Harijanti of Padjadjaran University, Zainal Arifin Mochtar of Gadjah Mada University, law expert and pro-democracy activist Bivitri Susanti and lawyer Denny Indrayana, who is also a former deputy law minister.
Their brief was filed in support of seven plaintiffs who have accused Fadli of committing an unlawful act as a government official last year when he publicly claimed that there was no evidence substantiating the mass rapes of Chinese-Indonesian women during the May 1998 riots, which preceded the fall of then-president Suharto and his authoritarian regime.
In their brief, the scholars also said that Fadli’s denial of the mass rape had revictimised survivors and victims’ families. “[Fadli’s] statement not only portrays the victims' traumatic experiences as mere fictional narratives, but also systematically erodes the efforts for recovery and reconciliation that have been fought for, for so long,” the amici said.
The amicus brief came as human rights expert Herlambang Wiratraman of Gadjah Mada University testified before the all-women panel of judges on Thursday as an expert witness for the plaintiffs, saying that public officials are obligated to uphold human rights protection.
“Denying past gross human rights violations and ‘covering them up’ constitutes a violation, as well as restricting information,” he said during the hearing. Herlambang noted that the mass rape during the racially motivated riots had undergone legal processes through the establishment of the now-defunct government-sanctioned fact-finding team and an investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), though the perpetrators of the tragedy remain undetermined almost three decades after May 1998.
The team, established by late president B. J. Habibie shortly after Soeharto’s resignation in 1998, had found 85 victims of sexual violence linked to the May 1998 riots, while the 2003 investigation by Komnas HAM concluded that the riots constituted crimes against humanity and gross human rights violations.
Denying their findings, Herlambang said, would entrench impunity and undermine efforts to resolve the 1998 case, which the state had already acknowledged as one of 12 past gross human rights violations.
Herlambang’s testimony was initially to be followed by historian Agus Mulyana presented by the defence. However, the judges and plaintiffs questioned his independence, citing his current post as the director of history and museums at the Culture Ministry.
The judges later excluded him from testifying on the grounds of a possible conflict of interest. The defence presented no additional expert witnesses and the judges adjourned the session, with the next hearing scheduled for March 5 to examine additional evidence.
The lawsuit was filed in September 2025 by former attorney general Marzuki Darusman, who chaired the fact-finding team, and historian Ita Fatia Nadia, who assisted rape victims from 1998 riots.
The plaintiffs demanded that Fadli retract his statement and apologise to survivors and victims’ families.
In a hearing on Feb. 5, Wiwin Suryadinata took the witness stand for the plaintiffs, recalling her hurtful experience after her daughter, activist Ita Martadinata Haryono, was raped and murdered during the racially motivated May 1998 riots.
Experts presented at the time also described Fadli’s denial as an attempt to erase history. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
