Chief editor named suspect in libel case<\/p>\n
Yemris Fointuna and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Kupang\/Padang<\/p>\n
Pos Kupang chief editor Dion DB Putera has been named a suspect
\nin a defamation case involving a former East Nusa Tenggara (NTT)
\ndeputy police deputy chief, while a West Sumatra councillor is
\nfacing a three-month jail term for allegedly assaulting a
\njournalist.<\/p>\n
\"It's true that Dion DB Putera has been charged as a suspect,
\nand will soon be prosecuted,\" the NTT Police chief of detectives
\nSr. Comr. Niko Eko Riwayanto said in the provincial capital of
\nKupang on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He said the chief editor of the local daily, a subsidiary of
\nthe Kompas Group, was accused of defaming former NTT Police
\ndeputy chief Sr. Comr. Arthur Damanik.<\/p>\n
The case surfaced after Pos Kupang ran an article in its June
\n23, 2004 edition alleging the involvement of the then number two
\nofficer in NTT Police Headquarters, who was identified only by
\nthe initials AD, in the smuggling of over 300 tons of sugar into
\nthe province from East Timor.<\/p>\n
The report, according to Damanik, had tarnished his
\nreputation, and so he had decided to file a complaint.<\/p>\n
Separately on Thursday, NTT Police chief Brig. Gen. Edward
\nAritonang said he was striving to arrange a meeting between
\nDamanik and Dion in order to resolve the libel dispute amicably.<\/p>\n
However, he said he had yet to receive a response from the two
\nsides.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the two sides will meet so as to find an optimum
\nsolution to their dispute without having to go to court,\" the
\nlocal police chief said.<\/p>\n
Dion said he respected the ongoing legal process by the
\npolice, including the decision to declare him a suspect.<\/p>\n
\"It's no problem if the provincial police name me as a
\nsuspect,\" he said, adding that he was ready to face Damanik in
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Padang, prosecutors recommended on Thursday that
\nformer West Sumatra legislative council member Syahril BB, 54, be
\nsentenced to three months in prison with a one-year probation
\nperiod.<\/p>\n
Syahril was charged with assaulting Media Indonesia\/Metro TV
\nreporter Bonar Harahap, 27, on May 1, 2004, in a courtroom in the
\nPadang District Court.<\/p>\n
At the time, the defendant slapped Bonar on the forehead and
\npushed him as the victim was performing his work, prosecutor
\nMukhlis said.<\/p>\n
Syahril was apparently angry with reports written by Bonar in
\nMedia Indonesia and aired on Metro TV on Syahril's trials on
\ncorruption and diploma forgery charges between March and April.<\/p>\n
The Padang District Court jailed the former councillor for two
\nyears for his role in embezzling Rp 4.6 billion (US$511,111) from
\nthe West Sumatra budget in 2002. He was also fined Rp 4 million
\nfor diploma forgery in a separate trial.<\/p>\n
Mukhlis told Thursday's trial in the same court that Syahril
\nwas guilty of assault under Article 351 (1) of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n
Among the compounding circumstances in the case was the fact
\nthat the defendant had belittled the profession of the victim as
\na journalist, he said.<\/p>\n
However, the prosecutors did not bring charges under the Press
\nLaw (No. 40\/1999).<\/p>\n
During the trial, the defendant had expressed remorse and
\napologized to the victim, and had been cooperative throughout,
\nall of which were mitigating circumstances, Mukhlis said.<\/p>",
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