Prabowo Lawyers Say MK Inconsistent

Jakarta (Antara) - Lawyers of the Prabowo - Hatta duo viewed the Constitutional Court (MK) as inconsistent in ruling that opening ballot boxes by the General Election Commission (KPK) was legal, but it violated the code of ethics. "What was done by the KPU in opening boxes and taking out the documents was a mistake and a violation. It was reprimanded. But the MK's legal consideration is that it could be accepted," one of the lawyers from the Prabowo team, Didi Supriyanto, said here, Thursday. He made the remarks during a break in the MK's session hearing the dispute over the presidential election result on July 9, 2014. In the meantime, the Election Organizers Ethics Council (DKPP), in its session on Thursday, said the KPU had violated the ethics in opening the ballot boxes as it was sued by the petitioner. The petitioner was of the view that KPU has tampered with the evidence by opening the boxes and by releasing a KPU circular No. 1446 on July 25, 2015. "MK considers that taking the documents in the box is acceptable, but the act of opening them violated the code of ethics," he said. It was earlier reported that the MK had ruled that KPU had committed a violation by opening the disputed ballot boxes before the order of the court. "The petitionee (PKU) unilaterally opened the ballot boxes despite the fact that it had an obligation to keep and maintain them. In opening the boxes, it should have observed the existing norms. Therefore, it has committed a violation," MK Judge, Anwar Usman, stated while reading out the court's legal consideration. (*)