Richard Ness : Trial Log : Court Hearing #1 on 5 August 2005
Court Hearing #1 on 5 August 2005 - 05 Aug 2005
by Eric
Panel of JudgesCory Sahusila Wane Erna Marauseja R. Damanik (Chairman) Maxi Sigarlaki Lennywati
Although the Legal Counsel raised the issue that differences appear in the Bill of Indictment received by the Legal Counsel with that of the one submitted by the Public Prosecutor (PP), as well as to the existing facts (particularly with regard to the Accused II identity), PP stated he would not change the Bill of Indictment that was read aloud in the court hearing. Therefore, [the Panel of Judges (PoJ) decided that] the relevant Bill of Indictment (that was read in the court hearing) would be use as the basis to prepare their objections [exception] and it would also be use as the basis for the remaining court hearings. The Prosecutor then read the Indictment.
After reading of Indictment, the Chief Judge asked Rick Ness whether he understood the contents of the Indictment. Rick Ness replied that he could not understand the Indictment entirely and that it would be very useful for him to have some time to understand the Indictment. Further, Rick Ness stated that as the representative of NMR, he was not aware that there had been any violation since previously NMR has never received any notice about breaching any regulations. Rick Ness also stated for the PoJ reference, that the Company had never been involved in nor convicted of any legal claim prior to this trial. In addition, Rick Ness stated in his personal capacity as Accused II, that he did not understand what violation he had committed the indictment after hearing The Chief Judge then stated that the PoJ was of the opinion to give an opportunity to Accused I and II to understand the Indictment carefully, either by translating it or by consulting with counsel. This opportunity was also given to the counsel to prepare "Exceptions", if they wanted to do so. Before deciding, the Chief Judge asked the response of the various counsel.
The Chief Judge then adjourned the hearing for 2 weeks and announced that the next hearing would be held on 19 August 2005 at 9.00 AM. The agenda for the next hearing would be to provide an opportunity to Rick Ness to understand the Indictment, and to submit any Exception to the Indictment
Note: The indictment did not make any logical sense. As an example: the indictment specifically stated that I did nothing to cause pollution where in Indonesian criminal law, there must be a specific act, a time and place for which a crime occurred. Several of the items mentioned were even prior to my involvement with the company.