'Tempo' lawyers want Tomy to stand trial for perjury<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Defense lawyers of Tempo magazine told the court on Monday to
\norder the prosecution of tycoon Tomy Winata for perjury in the
\nearlier hearing of the libel case in which three of the weekly's
\njournalists were defendants.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi pointed out that the latest
\nevidence presented in the hearing on Monday at the Central
\nJakarta District Court contradicts Tomy's earlier statement that
\nhe had never been interviewed by a Tempo journalist.<\/p>\n
Reporter Veronica Bernarda Rurit testified before the court
\nthat she had interviewed Tomy for a news report titled "Is Tomy
\nin Tenabang?", which was published in the weekly's March 3-9,
\n2003 edition.<\/p>\n
"Two managing editors of Tempo told the court that Rurit was
\nassigned to interview Tomy. It was also confirmed by a recording
\nof a telephone interview provided by state-owned
\ntelecommunication company PT Telkom," Trimoelja later told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Tomy earlier said in the trial that he had never been
\ninterviewed by a Tempo journalists for the article and when a
\nrecording of the interview was played in the courtroom, he said
\nthat the voice might not be his and its authenticity needed to be
\nproven.<\/p>\n
Tempo weekly chief editor Bambang Harymurti, journalists Ahmad
\nTaufik and T. Iskandar Ali were brought to court for violating
\nArticles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code on defamation. If found
\nguilty, they could be sentenced to four years in prison.<\/p>\n
The three were brought to court after a complaint from Tomy
\nwho deplored the article, saying that it had tarnished his image
\nas a respectable businessman.<\/p>\n
Trimoelja said that Tomy could be charged with perjury under
\nArticle 242 of the Criminal Code, an offense that carries a
\nmaximum sentence of seven years in prison.<\/p>\n
"And if our clients ended up being handed down a more severe
\npunishment due to the false testimony, the prison term could go
\nup to nine years," he said, quoting the article.<\/p>\n
The defense have petitioned the judicial panel to order state
\nprosecutors to file a lawsuit against Tomy.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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