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.