'Tempo' attackers charged with minor offenses<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Marked by the presence of hundreds of people alleged to be
\nthose taking part in storming the weekly's office, the trial of
\nthe Tempo attack began on Wednesday at the Central Jakarta
\nDistrict Court, with prosecutors accusing the defendants of only
\ncommitting a minor offense.<\/p>\n
The defendants David Tjioe, alias A Miauw, and Hidayat Lukman
\nalias Teddy Uban, minions of tycoon Tomy Winata were both
\nindicted for violating Article 335 of the Criminal Code on
\nencouraging others to perpetrate acts of violence, which carries
\na maximum punishment of one year in prison.<\/p>\n
The first indictment for David, read by chief prosecutor,
\nRamdhanu Dwiyantoro, said that the defendants committed an act of
\nviolence against Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, who
\ndeclined to reveal the source of an article which he said harmed
\nthe business interests of Tomy Winata.<\/p>\n
As for Teddy Uban who was tried separately, prosecutor M.
\nManik said that the defendant verbally and physically harassed
\njournalist Achmad Taufik. He was accused of violating the same
\narticle.<\/p>\n
Teddy and David -- who were placed under city arrest from
\nApril 1 to April 20 -- were among a group of people who stormed
\nthe weekly's office in early March, demanding a retraction of
\narticle insinuating that Artha Graha Group's Tomy Winata was
\nresponsible for a fire that devastated the Tanah Abang market in
\nmid-February.<\/p>\n
The indictment, however, made no mention of three other people
\n-- Yosef, Septi and Abdul Haris Sumbi -- who had previously been
\nnamed as suspects.<\/p>\n
Police earlier said that dossiers for the three had to be
\ncompleted before they could be brought to court, but sources
\nrevealed that they would be presented merely as witnesses.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors, in the indictment, only stated four names --
\nDavid, Haris, Habib Hamid and Guntur -- without any clarification
\nregarding their status in the case.<\/p>\n
After prosecutors read the indictment, presiding judge Sunaryo
\nconcluded the hearing, announcing that a follow-up hearing was
\nscheduled for April 22.<\/p>\n
Farhat Abbas, one of the defendants' lawyers, said that
\nconsidering that his clients were indicted only for a minor
\noffense, the advocates would not submit a defense statement and
\nwould instead submit a plea.<\/p>\n
He, however, played down the possibility of presenting Tomy as
\na witness in the next hearing.<\/p>\n
In the course of the hearing, hundreds of people alleged to be
\nthe security guards of Tomy were seen inside the court building.
\nThey were easily recognizable from their uniforms.<\/p>\n
Separately, as many as 30 people under the organization
\nSolidarity for Press Freedom visited the Jakarta Police
\nHeadquarters in a bid to complain to the police for not charging
\nDavid and Teddy, the alleged attackers of Tempo under Law No.
\n40\/199 on the media. Under the law, persons can be charged for
\nobstructing journalists from reporting.<\/p>\n
Among the protesters were Leo Batubara, the chairman of SPS
\nprint media publisher group, senior journalist Fikri Jufri and
\nnoted economist Faisal Basri.<\/p>\n
The protesters met police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Prasetyo as
\nJakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara was not
\navailable.<\/p>\n
"Why didn't the police charge them under the law?" said Bimo
\nNugroho, one of the protesters.<\/p>\n
Bimo also questioned the police's move to name Bambang
\nHarymurti and Ahmad Taufik as suspects in a defamation suit filed
\nby Tomy.<\/p>\n
The protesters warned that the police's move may threaten
\npress freedom in the country.<\/p>",
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