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New legal network for the underprivileged

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 08/06/2010 9:45 PM

More than 150 lawyers, activists and public investigators have formed the Public Interest Lawyer Network (PIL-Net) aimed at providing free services to marginalized people.

The new organization is backed by several human rights NGOs, such as Elsam, Huma and Sawit Watch.

“We are here to assist those who are currently in battle with the state or big business entities and feel that they receive no fair treatment,” PIL-Net board member Indriaswari Saptaningrum told a press conference Thursday.

PIL-Net secretary Wahyu Wagiman said that the network would focus more on providing free service in the regions, which often witnessed conflict between locals, state officials and big companies.

“We will immediately release the names of our public lawyers so that the people who need our services can contact us,” he said.

The joint secretariat will be temporarily housed at Elsam headquarters, in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta
Soetarti Sukarno, right, has won her case — and evaded a jail sentence — after legal action launched by state pawnshop company PT Perum Pegadaian. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Grandma Minah, a villager living near Purwokerto, Central Java is embraced by actor Butet Kertaredjasa after receiving a cacao seedling from the anticorruption organization Kompak in Jakarta on Monday. The woman, who made newspaper headlines after a local court sentenced her to 45 days in jail for stealing three cacao pods from a plantation company, was named one of Kompak’s People of the Year. JP/Nurhayati

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