Surabaya Residents File Suit Against US Consulate

Surabaya - Six Surabaya residents have filed a class action suit against the US consulate general in the city for having built a conrete barrier in front of its main gate on the ground it was hindering traffic on a public road. A lawyer for the group, Muhammad Sholeh, came to the Surabaya District Court on Tuesday to register their suit which was also addressed to the Surabaya city police. What the six Surbayans objected to as a conrete wall, one meter high, 50 centimeters thick and 25 centimeters long that had been built seven meters in front of the consulate's entrance gate on Jalan Raya Polisi Istimewa. "This concrete wall has given rise to many complaints because it is located in the middle of the road, It often causes traffic congestions, especially for vehicles coming from the east," Sholeh said. He said, the structure was set up four years ago when demonstrations often happened outside the consulate and apparently intended to keep demonstrators a comfortable distance away. "However, in reality, more often than not, demonstrators are unable to come near the consulate as their path is already blocked by security forces in other streets leading to the consulate or at least 500 meters from the US mission, So what is the point in maintaining the wall," he said. Therefore. Sholeh said, the wall should be dismantled. After all, he addded, the wall stood on Indonesian territory, not on US territory as did the consulate building. The wall's location on Indonesian territory was a violation of the law, namely Article 28, Section (1) of Law Number 22/2009 about traffic and road transportation. "And the head of the Surabaya city police has violated the spirit of Article 30, Section (4) of the 1945 Constitution by favoring the interest of a foreign party above that of an Indonesian community," he said. Meanwhile, a staffer at the US consulate general in Surabaya, Esti Durahsanti, when asked about the class-action suit, said the consulate had nothing to say yet. (*)