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Denpasar. Journalists have filed a complaint with the Indonesian Lawyers Association, alleging that lawyers defending suspects in the murder of Radar Bali journalist Anak Agung Narendra Prabangsa forced witnesses to lie when giving evidence.

“We urged the association to review its code of ethics,” said Rofiqi Hasan, chair of the Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) in Denpasar on Sunday.

The complaint was also signed by the Reformed Indonesian Union of Journalists (PWI) and the Independent Journalist Association (PJI) in Bali.

A witness in the murder trial, Nengah Mercadana, had told the court earlier that during a meeting in the house of Bangli district head Nengah Arnawa in May, he had been instructed to give false testimony in the trial of alleged murderer Nyoman Susrama, a younger brother of the district head.

Mercadana said he had been forced by lawyers to give a statement that on Feb. 11, the day Prabangsa was killed, he was working at the defendant’s house when in fact he had not been present.

“On that day I had been given a day off by Susrama,” he said at a recent hearing at the Denpasar District Court.

Aside from Mercadana, the May meeting was attended by five other construction workers and six lawyers for Susrama.

Mercadana’s statement was corroborated by another witness, Nyoman Rajin, who said he had been forced by Susrama’s lawyers to sign an affidavit that he had been at work on Feb. 11.

“In the meeting we were given our wages to signify that work had been undertaken,” he said.

Susrama’s lawyers denied they had contrived such a scheme. Made Suryadharma, one of the lawyers, said he only told the construction workers that they would be considered working, and thus earning pay, on Feb. 11.

“The fact is that some of them did work [on that day]. So if the witness said he was no longer at work, then it’s all a lie,” he said.

Rofiqi said lawyers should not resort to methods that ran counter to legal ethics and the law, regardless of who their client was. He said he was concerned such manipulation was also exerted on other witnesses, thus further muddling the facts presented at the trial.

Justice Herman, chair of PJI Bali, said efforts to manufacture the truth by telling witnesses to lie in front of the judges showed that the lawyers had not refrained from doing anything to win the case for their client.

Herman said no matter how clever the scheme, it would eventually be disproven if it was not backed up by facts.

“I thank the witness for his courage in revealing the manipulation,” he said.

Similar concerns were also expressed by a lawyers’ organization.

Made Suardana, chair of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Union of Lawyers (Peradi), said that such actions ran counter to the lawyers code of conduct.

“If it can be proven, then the lawyers should be reported to Peradi, or the people can take legal action,” he said.

Dwi Astika, chair of the Bali Legal Aid Agency, said the lawyers’ manipulation could be construed as a public lie and he asked prosecutors to take firm action against them.

“Remember that the duty of a lawyer is to defend his client’s rights, not to instruct witnesses to lie,” he said.