Indonesian scholars back lawsuit against minister’s denial of 1998 mass rape


An activist attends a Kamisan (Thursdays) silent protest in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on May 17, 2018, demanding justice for the deaths during riots amid the fall of former president Suharto in May 1998. - AFP

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.

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