Poso 3 defense slams court
Jakarta Post, August 23, 2006

JAKARTA: Lawyers for three men on death row are criticizing the Palu District Court for halting the convicts' pleas for presidential clemency.
The defense team said Tuesday it would send a letter of protest to the court on behalf of their clients, who were convicted for their roles in the deadly religious violence in Poso, Central Sulawesi, in 2000.
The lawyers said the Supreme Court, represented by the Palu District Court, did not have the authority to halt the clemency process. The Supreme Court could only give its legal opinion, they argued.
"We think that the district court has acted beyond its presidential authority," the team said in a statement.
In its Aug. 15 decision, the district court informed the defense team that the second round of clemency pleas from their clients, Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu, could not be processed because they violated the 2002 law on presidential pardons.
The law states that a convict can submit a second clemency request two years after the president's refusal of the first plea for clemency.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned down the trio's first requests for clemency on Nov. 10, 2005. --JP