Court summons Megawati

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri has been ordered to attend court to testify against a newspaper prosecutors allege insulted her by, among other things, saying she was crueler than a notorious Javanese cannibal.

It is the first time a sitting president has been ordered to testify in a court case.

"I expect prosecutors to present the victim witness to the hearing next week," presiding Judge Zoeber Djajadi, sitting in the South Jakarta District Court, ordered during the trial of Supratman, the managing editor of Jakarta-based daily Rakyat Merdeka.

The court rejected an application by defense lawyers to dismiss the case.

Chief prosecutor Arnold Angkouw charged Supratman with insulting the president and vice president, Criminal Code violations that carry a maximum penalty of 16 months in jail.

He said the paper published four front page articles between January and February this year that defamed the President.

The articles included Mulut Mega bau solar (Mega's mouth smells of diesel fuel), which was accompanied by a picture depicting a fat woman drinking diesel fuel and Mega lebih kejam dari Sumanto (Mega is crueler than Sumanto), referring to a notorious eater of the dead on trial in Central Java.

The daily is also being sued by Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung for defamation. -- JP