Court tells Lippo, critic to make peace<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A court has urged a commissioner of Bank Lippo and noted
\nanalyst Lin Che Wei to reach an out-of-court settlement within
\none week in their dispute over a number of articles written by
\nLin on misleading financial reports filed by Lippo.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Mohammad Saleh, in the first hearing of the
\ncase in the Central Jakarta District Court, said both parties
\nshould consider reaching an out-of-court settlement as the legal
\nprocess could turn out to be long and exhausting.<\/p>\n
However both sides showed no sign that they would abide by the
\njudge's suggestion.<\/p>\n
\"Our client is open to an out-of-court settlement but until
\nthis moment we have not received a proposal from the accused (Lin
\nChe Wei),\" said Chalid Luis Heyder of Hutabarat, Halim &
\nPartners, the law firm representing Lippo commissioner Rudi Toha
\nBachrie.<\/p>\n
\"There won't be any settlement proposal from us,\" Lin said
\nduring the court session.<\/p>\n
In several articles published in Kompas in mid-February, Lin
\nwarned the public to be careful of buying Lippo stock, saying he
\nsuspected share-price manipulation by Lippo management. He also
\nquestioned the actions being taken by the authorities to prevent
\nor stop such alleged manipulation.<\/p>\n
Lin said Lippo management had systematically pushed down the
\nprice of Lippo stock so that the government, as the owner of a 59
\npercent stake in the bank, would have its shareholding diluted.
\nThis was designed to pave the way for the former owners of the
\nbank, Mochtar Riyadi's family, who now own 30 percent of Lippo,
\nto regain control.<\/p>\n
In 1999, the government injected about Rp 6 trillion in
\nbailout funds into the bank, which gave it a 60 percent stake in
\nLippo.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 21, Rudi filed a defamation lawsuit against Lin.<\/p>\n
According to court documents made available to The Jakarta
\nPost, Rudi is demanding Rp 103 billion (US$11.59 million) in
\ncompensation, saying Lin's articles had damaged his reputation
\nand credibility. Also, he said the articles caused Lippo to
\nsuffer financial losses as it resulted in a decrease in Lippo's
\nshare price and forced Lippo to spend money to clarify the
\nsituation to various parties, including the government,
\ninvestors, and the public, and to hire lawyers.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Frans Hendra Winarta, who is representing Lin, said his
\nclient could not be accused of defamation, because as an
\nindependent analyst he was writing for the public who had a right
\nto know both \"good and bad\" information.<\/p>\n
Moreover, he said, in his article Lin did not name any
\nculprits behind the alleged Lippo share price manipulation.<\/p>\n
\"My client will not correct his article, will not apologize
\nand will not stop writing,\" Frans said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/court-tells-lippo-critic-to-make-peace-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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