Court delays seizure of 'Koran Tempo' office
Court delays seizure of 'Koran Tempo' office
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Tempo media group been granted a reprieve after the South
Jakarta District Court canceled its controversial order to freeze
assets belonging to the group on Thursday -- but only because the
identified assets did not belong entirely to the group.
The initial decision to grant the asset preservation order
application by businessman Tomy Winata in relation to his libel
suit against Tempo news magazine, was met by howls of protests,
including from former president Abdurrahman Wahid who said
efforts by Tomy to threaten press freedom had to be stopped.
South Jakarta District Court head Sudarto said he canceled his
asset preservation order on the office buildings of Koran Tempo
daily newspaper, a subsidiary of the Tempo media group, for "one
week or two, pending an examination of the case".
"I was told this morning by the head of East Jakarta District
Court not to execute the order since the lawyers representing
Koran Tempo daily had filed an objection against the asset
preservation order on (Wednesday)," he said.
On Wednesday, Sudarto insisted on issuing the order despite
the objection filed at the East Jakarta District Court.
It was the East Jakarta District Court who approved Tomy
Winata's request to slap an order on the office buildings as well
as the residence of Tempo co-founder Goenawan Mohamad as
collateral for his demands for Rp 21 billion (US$24.7 million) in
compensation in relation to his libel case.
The court on Monday seized Goenawan's house, located in its
legal jurisdiction, but delegated the task to seize the daily's
office buildings in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, to the South
Jakarta District Court.
Dozens of reporters gathered at the location until 12 a.m.
waiting for the bailiff, where Koran Tempo staff and journalists
installed banners and posters which read: "Welcome bailiff, we
are not corruptors".
Rizal Adi Dharma, lawyer of the daily's publishing company PT
Tempo Inti Media Harian, said the property belonged to three
parties: namely individual Husein Astrawinata, Tempo weekly
publishing company PT Tempo Inti Media and the daily's printing
company PT Temprint.
Also on Thursday, United States Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce
visited the office of Tempo weekly on Jl. Proklamasi, Central
Jakarta, to show his support.
However, he declined to comment when asked if his visit was
aimed at giving support to the magazine.
"I am a great admirer of Tempo, which has stood for years as
an example of what a first class media operation can be in
Indonesia," he said.
Welcomed by the weekly's chief editor Bambang Harymurti whom
he called a personal friend, Boyce and embassy staff personnel
delivered U.S. magazines on American democracy that were later
distributed to journalists.
Meanwhile, City Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara
admitted that police had made mistakes with the date of the
document that was used as evidence by police in the libel case.
Makbul claimed the date of the documents seizure took place on
March 18 but mistakenly typed in March 11.
"I have reprimanded the concerned police investigators. Such a
mistake must not reoccur in the future," he said.
He did not say if the officers were punished.
Lawyers representing defendants Bambang Harymurti and
reporters Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali had complained about
the irregularities to National Police Headquarters, accusing them
of presenting fraudulent documents.
A confiscation warrant dated March 12, signed by Adj. Sr.
Comr. Tito Karnavian and Adj. Comr. Ponadi, is simply at odds
with the dossiers on the seizure execution dated on March 11.