Court seizes Goenawan's home over libel
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The East Jakarta District Court has given an order to confiscate the residence of Tempo weekly's co-founder Goenawan Mohamad as collateral in a libel suit filed by businessman Tomy Winata.
A panel of judges consisting of Mabruq Nur, Surya Darma Belo and Rustam Idris signed the court order on Sept. 25.
Besides Goenawan's house on Jl. Tanah Mas IIB No. 19, Kayu Putih subdistrict, Pulo Mas, East Jakarta, the judges also approved Tomy's demand to confiscate the office building of Koran Tempo daily on Jl. Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.
Under the Indonesian legal system, it is common for the plaintiff in a civil lawsuit to request that the defendant's property be confiscated as collateral.
Such confiscation requires a legal agreement made earlier between the plaintiff and the defendant, as well as ownership documents for the property or, if the property is a plot of land, the plaintiff can present a letter issued by the National Land Agency (BPN) declaring the owner of the land.
A court can only give an order to confiscate property if the property falls within the court's jurisdiction; a court can also delegate the confiscation order to another court that has jurisdiction over the property.
Tomy filed a civil suit against Goenawan for defamation over the latter's statement printed on Feb. 6 in Koran Tempo daily, in an article titled Don't let the country fall into the hand of thugs/TW.
The court bailiffs arrived at 11 a.m. at the house, where the media had been waiting. They did not answer questions as to whether they had received the required documents from Tempo senior editor Fikri Jufri and former attorney general Marsillam Simandjuntak, who were also at the site.
The house was vacant, as Goenawan was in Surabaya to attend a wedding party. Bubun, who introduced himself as a staff at the house, received the court order, which stated that Goenawan was still allowed to reside at that address, but was prohibited from handing over the property to another party.
The same day, the Central Jakarta District Court heard the defense's testimony given by Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti and journalists Iskandar Ali and Ahmad Taufik, who have been charged with defamation, also against Tomy Winata, in an article published in March.
'Fake documents' found in Tempo case
The defense team representing Tempo weekly filed a complaint on Monday with National Police Headquarters over the use of allegedly fraudulent documents as evidence by Jakarta Police investigators in a libel suit filed by businessman Tomy Winata against the weekly's journalists.
"We are reporting fraudulence in the dossiers of Bambang Harymurti, and of Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali," said lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, referring to the magazine's chief editor and two journalists.
Trimoelja said his team had found blatant irregularities in the dates of those documents.
The documents concern the receipt from Tomy of Tempo's March 3-9 edition, which ran the article Ada Tomy di 'Tenabang'?, and a letter from Governor Sutiyoso, which says that Tomy never submitted a proposal to renovate Tanah Abang market. The magazine copy and the letter were to be used as evidence.
The receipt was issued by Adj. Comr. Ponadi on March 11, while the warrant to "seize" the evidence and to open an investigation on the case was issued on March 12 by Jakarta Police detective Adj. Sr. Comr. Tito Karnavian; Sutiyoso's letter was dated March 13.
"This is simply impossible. The logic is, the execution follows the order. But, we can see that the execution had taken place even before the order to confiscate the evidence was made," said Trimoelja.
The lawyer was accompanied by defense team leader Todung Mulya Lubis and Bambang Harymurti.
Trimoelja urged police to investigate the alleged fraud, which might implicate police investigators connected to the case.
Police officers at Jakarta Police Headquarters were available for comment, including Tito. -- JP
Legal battle between Tomy Winata and Tempo
Civil lawsuits 1. Libel suit against Tempo publishing company PT Tempo Inti Media, company director Zulkifli Lubis, company general manager Fikri Jufri, Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, deputy chief editor Toriq Hadad, journalists Ahmad Taufik, Bernarda Rurit and Cahyo Junaedy. Venue: Central Jakarta District Court Legal representation: Otto Cornelis Kaligis Demand: Compensation of Rp 200 billion (US$23.5 million) for potential loss caused by the Ada Tomy di 'Tenabang'? article.
2. Libel suit against PT Tempo Inti Media and Ahmad Taufik Venue: Central Jakarta District Court Legal representation: Klinik Bantuan Hukum 24 Jam Demand: Compensation of Rp 120 billion for Ahmad Taufik's Chronology of the attack of Tomy Winata on Tempo, spread via the Internet.
3. Libel suit against Tempo patron Goenawan Mohamad and PT Tempo Inti Media Venue: East Jakarta District Court Legal representation: Erman Umar & Associates Demand: Compensation of Rp 21 billion for Goenawan's remark on March 11 after a meeting with National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, reminding the people not to let the country fall into the hands of thugs, such as Tomy Winata.
4. Libel suit against Koran Tempo daily chief editor Bambang Harymurti, journalist Dedy Kurniawan and publishing company PT Tempo Inti Media Harian Venue: South Jakarta District Court Legal representation: Hamdan, Sudjana & Partners Demand: Compensation of Rp 21 billion for article titled (Southeast Sulawesi) Governor Ali Mazi Denies Tomy Winata To Open Gambling Den on Feb. 6.
Criminal case Libel suit at Central Jakarta District Court against Bambang Harymurti, Iskandar Ali and Ahmad Taufik, with the prosecution accusing the three of violating Articles 14(1) and 14(2) of the 1946 Criminal Code on deliberately publishing a news report to provoke unrest. The charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years and three years in jail, respectively.
Source: The Jakarta Post