Land Dispute In West Jakarta Heats Up, Witness Is Known As Part Of The Plaintiff's Family

West Jakarta District Court/ Photo: IST

JAKARTA The trial of a civil case related to land disputes in the Tegal Alur area, Kalideres, West Jakarta, heated up after the defendant assessed that the plaintiff presented witnesses who did not meet the legal requirements.

The attorney for the defendant Haji Jafar Ali Yugo, Ferry Kilikily, confirmed that two of the three witnesses presented by the plaintiff had a direct family relationship with the plaintiff.

"This is clearly not in accordance with the rules of the civil event law, a witness must not have blood relations with the litigants," said the attorney after the trial at the West Jakarta District Court, Tuesday, September 2, 2025.

Ferry explained that the Panel of Judges had asked the identity of one of the witnesses who initially admitted that he did not know the plaintiff, but was later found to be the younger brother of the plaintiff.

Similar irregularities were also found in other witnesses who were said to still have a family relationship.

"In the proceedings of the trial, the second witness brought forward by the plaintiff's attorney turned out to be the younger brother of the plaintiff, who initially vowed to face the trial not knowing Oey Giok Lan (lena)," he explained.

According to him, this condition shows an attempt to engineer in evidence.

"We see that there are indications of a fictitious witness. This actually strengthens our position that this lawsuit has the wrong address," he said.

Furthermore, the defendant explained that the disputed land object actually belonged to PT Sarana Jaya. Haji Jafar himself is known to have only occupied the land since 2000 for livestock storage purposes and has never claimed to be the legal owner.

"Even the Kelurahan has confirmed that the Sale and Purchase Deed (AJB) which is claimed by the plaintiff has never been officially registered," added Tuty Sosilawati, who is also Jafar Ali Yugo's attorney.

Tuty assessed that if there was an objection, the lawsuit should have been addressed to PT Sarana Jaya as the legal owner, not Haji Jafar, who only occupied the land with the knowledge of the local residents and officials.

The follow-up trial is scheduled to be held again with the agenda of presenting additional witnesses. The defendant is committed to continuing to uncover irregularities in the legal process.