Marzuki to submit written testimony at 'Time' hearing<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman will give his
\nwritten testimony in the hearing of a legal dispute between New
\nYork-based Time magazine and former president Soeharto next week,
\nthe magazine's lawyer said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"The attorney general's written statement is scheduled to be
\nheard in the hearing next week,\" Time's defense lawyer Todung
\nMulya Lubis announced at a hearing at the Central Jakarta
\nDistrict Court, presided over by Judge Sihol Sitompul.<\/p>\n
\"The written statement is about the progress report of the
\nAttorney General Office's investigation into the former
\npresident's alleged practices of corruption, collusion and
\nnepotism (KKN),\" Todung said.<\/p>\n
He said Marzuki's written testimony was in lieu of his
\npresence in Tuesday's hearing.<\/p>\n
\"I contacted him (Marzuki) this morning, but he said he had
\nanother important engagement,\" he said without elaborating.<\/p>\n
\"However, the attorney general said he would submit a written
\ntestimony,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Todung's request to be allowed to submit written testimony by
\nthe attorney general sparked heated debate between the lawyers
\nfor the plaintiff and the lawyers for the defense in Tuesday's
\nhearing.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's lawyers objected to the proposal, saying the
\nattorney general's written testimony would only cause confusion
\nin the trial.<\/p>\n
\"The attorney general is the key person in the ongoing
\ninvestigation into the former president,\" O.C. Kaligis told the
\nhearing, which started at 10:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Assegaf, another lawyer representing Soeharto,
\nchallenged the urgency of the attorney general's written
\ntestimony.<\/p>\n
\"We can't examine and verify the attorney general's testimony
\nif the hearing only hears his written statement,\" Assegaf said.<\/p>\n
Todung defended the proposal, saying the attorney general's
\ntestimony was significant to the prosecution as the office's
\ninvestigation covered the alleged KKN practices by the former
\npresident.<\/p>\n
\"The attorney general's testimony will provide the panel of
\njudges with a clear picture of whether the magazine reported the
\npresident's alleged KKN in a proportional manner,\" he told the
\nhearing.<\/p>\n
Judge Sihol then decided to allow the testimony to be heard,
\nbut went on to say that the judges would have the authority to
\ndetermine the validity of the evidence.<\/p>\n
\"The court will hear the attorney general's written testimony,
\nbut it must contain only facts and not conclusions or arguments,\"
\nthe judge said.<\/p>\n
Tuesday's hearing also heard the testimonies of senior
\njournalist Sabam Siagian and linguist Anton M. Moeljono.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was represented by, among others, Juan Felix
\nTampubolon, Kaligis, Assegaf and Indriyanto Seno Adji, while the
\nmagazine was represented by, among others, Todung, Lelyana
\nSantosa and Kamal Firdaus.<\/p>\n
Sabam said the magazine had not defamed Soeharto since the
\nreputation of the former president had been ruined long before
\nthe magazine published its cover story on the strongman in its
\nMay 24 edition last year.<\/p>\n
\"There were many other domestic or overseas publications that
\ntouched on the negative sides of the former president,\" said
\nSabam, former chief editor of The Jakarta Post, while citing a
\n1996 publication of the Sydney Morning Herald which likened the
\nSoeharto family to the family of the Republic of Philippine's
\nformer autocrat Marcos.<\/p>\n
Sabam also refuted that the caricature of Soeharto on the
\nmagazine's cover was defamatory.<\/p>\n
\"It is subjective, since people will have their own
\nperceptions over the picture,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The magazine's cover showed a picture of Soeharto with a large
\nUS$100 banknote in the background.<\/p>\n
Soeharto filed the lawsuit against the magazine in July last
\nyear. He is demanding the magazine pay him Rp 189 trillion (US$27
\nbillion) in damages for suggesting in its articles that he and
\nhis family had amassed a $15 billion fortune during his 32-year
\nreign.<\/p>\n
Sihol adjourned the hearing until next week, when Todung is
\nscheduled to submit the attorney general's written testimony.
\n(asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/marzuki-to-submit-written-testimony-at-time-hearing-1447893297",
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