Akbar to sue textbook author

Akbar to sue textbook author

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Veteran politician and former House of Representatives speaker
Akbar Tandjung has filed a complaint against a teacher for
writing a textbook that he considers libelous.

Akbar has demanded that Retno Listyarti, a civics teacher from
State Senior High School No. 13 in North Jakarta, apologizes and
corrects the textbook before Saturday. Otherwise, he will sue her
for Rp 10 billion (US$1.03 million) in damages.

But Retno said on Friday that she would put up a fight.

"I will face him (in court). This is about defending my
freedom of expression, creativity and academic record. I don't
have any malicious intent to discredit someone," she said.

Retno wrote a civics book titled Pendidikan Kewarganegaraan
SMA (High School Civics), which was published by PT Esei early
this year and sold at Rp 36,000. She spent 17 months researching
the book.

Retno uses Akbar's Rp 40 billion graft trial in 2004 to
highlight issues of transparency and the social safety net in
Chapter Two of the book.

In a bid to show transparency in the country's justice system,
Retno discusses the dissenting opinion handed down by Supreme
Court justice Abdul Rahman Saleh, who found Akbar guilty of abuse
of power and hurting the interests of the public.

Abdul Rahman is currently the Attorney General.

The Supreme Court acquitted Akbar, who at the time chaired the
Golkar Party.

In her book, Retno also encourages students to discuss the
court's decision.

In his complaint, Akbar said making his graft trial the
subject of discussion ignored the "psychological impact" on one
of his daughters, whose school, the Tarakanita Senior High School
in Central Jakarta, uses the book.

Other schools across Jakarta and outside of the capital have
also selected the book as a textbook.

Akbar accused Retno of being unfair as she only focused
on the dissenting opinion and ignored the Supreme Court's
decision to exonerate him.

"He (Akbar) wanted me to withdraw the textbook from the
shelves and take out Chapter Two," said Retno.

She said that this was out of the question.

"I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about the
independence of schools as institutions that impart knowledge to
students," said Retno, who has appointed lawyers from the
Jakarta-based Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

Earlier this year, the editors of Rakyat Merdeka got suspended
sentences of six months each for libeling Akbar.