Amir, Lontoh apologize to IPTN's team of lawyers

JAKARTA (JP): Amir Syamsuddin and Rudhy A. Lontoh, two lawyers representing The Jakarta Post in its legal dispute with aircraft maker PT IPTN, have apologized to the latter's team of lawyers for remarks considered to be inappropriate.

Amir and Lontoh said in separate letters, dated Aug. 19, Aug. 20 and Aug. 22, that they regretted their remarks calling IPTN's lawyers "unprofessional".

The team of lawyers representing IPTN, led by Adnan Buyung Nasution, responded by saying that they "appreciate the honesty, sincerity and gallantry" of Amir and Lontoh.

The Post and IPTN are involved in a legal wrangle over the daily's incorrect report on the crash of an IPTN-made plane last May.

Weeks of negotiations to seek an out-of-court settlement ended in deadlock early August, with IPTN's lawyers announcing that the Bandung-based, state-owned company would go ahead with its plan to sue the Post.

In a press conference on Aug. 15, the Post's lawyers said they accepted but regretted the plan which they said came as an unexpected ending to previous meetings in which the two sides had notched significant progress toward an out-of-court settlement.

Lontoh, expressing his disappointment over the development, said the lawyers of IPTN had broken their commitment to seek an out-of-court settlement and that the decision showed that they were not professional. Amir also questioned the decision.

In their objection, IPTN's lawyers said Amir and Lontoh's remarks "had not reflected professionalism" of lawyers who were bound by the principle of "respecting, trusting and treating colleagues with good manners".

IPTN's lawyers said the remarks of Amir and Lontoh, as members of the Post's team of lawyers, showed that the two had unduly placed the burden of seeking a settlement on IPTN's lawyers alone.

IPTN's lawyers also said the parties in dispute were the Post and IPTN, not the teams of lawyers, and that the remarks, which were published by the Post, Kompas and Bisnis Indonesia dailies, should not have been made in the first place.

IPTN had announced it would go ahead with the lawsuit unless the daily met two demands in two weeks time, namely that the Post place a full-page apology in five national dailies and 11 foreign dailies and magazines for three consecutive days, and pay compensation as well. IPTN did not mention the amount of money requested as compensation.

The Post's chief lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, had said the daily could not fulfill the demands, saying that they were not in-line with settlements suggested by the Press Law and the Press Code of Ethics. (swe)