Actress Ayu Azhari sentenced to four months probation for assault

Actress Ayu Azhari sentenced to four months probation for assault

JAKARTA (JP): An actress sentenced to four months probation
Saturday for assaulting her costume designer said she will go on
the haj pilgrimage next year.

"I am thinking about going to Mecca for the pilgrimage next
year," Ayu Azhari said after the South Jakarta District Court
handed down its verdict.

The actress said she was forced to drop her plan to go on the
haj pilgrimage this year because she was banned from leaving the
country pending the completion of her trial.

Her husband, Wisnu Djodi Gondokusumo, received a similar
sentence from the South Jakarta District Court, which declared
the couple guilty of unpleasant conduct towards Ayu's costume
designer Harry Gunawan.

The court also ruled that if the couple commit a similar
offense during their probation period, they will spend two months
in jail.

Presiding Judge Moegihardjo said in the verdict that Ayu and
Wisnu were proven guilty of the charges of attacking Harry
Gunawan on March 14, 1992.

"I am satisfied with the verdict," Ayu told reporters after
the trial.

She hugged her husband and smiled while posing before several
photographers.

She said that she learned a lot from the case."It's a valuable
lesson for me and this (case) simply helped me grow up and become
more mature than ever before."

Ayu said that she still wants to continue her education in the
United States which she has had to abandon for two years because
of the travel ban.

Ayu and her husband, both 25 years old and the parents of one
child, said that they have no hard feelings towards Harry, who
brought the case to court.

Previously Ayu claimed that she and her husband had tried
their best to ask Harry for an out-of-court settlement, including
holding several press conferences to apologize publicly.

They failed to satisfy Harry's demand for the advertisement of
their apology in several leading newspapers.

"That was too expensive for me," Ayu said.

According to the verdict, Ayu and Wisnu assaulted Harry in
March 1992, when they were filming the television series Rumahku
Istanaku (My Home, My Palace).

The assault left several bruises on Harry's face.

The assault on the costume designer, who is also a journalist
for a teen magazine, took place at Jl. Mandala II No. 7, Tebet,
South Jakarta.

Ayu reported to Wisnu, who was accompanying her during the
filming, that she felt like somebody was peeping at her when she
was changing her clothes and found that the door to the dressing
was slightly ajar.

Ayu, who suspected that Harry had left the door open
deliberately after handing her some clothes, reported the
incident to Wisnu.

Wisnu, who reportedly spoke of the incident to the director of
the film series, later confronted the costume designer because he
thought no action had been taken against him.

In his report to the police, Harry said that Ayu pulled at the
collar of his shirt, spit at him and slapped him several times,
while Wisnu punched him repeatedly.

Harry said that he was shocked at the attack because there
were no problems in his relationship with the couple previously.
(05)