Defamation charges inaccurate, says lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): The lawyer of a housewife who was tried for reporting an alleged bribery case to the now-defunct Joint Anticorruption Team (TGPTPK) asked the court to reject the indictment on Thursday.

Lawyer Iskandar Sonhadji asked the South Jakarta District Court to set aside the defamation charges against Maria Leonita Sri Chandra Harumi, 54, as the indictment was inaccurate.

He also questioned the policy of the attorney general in fighting corruption since there was a tendency that witnesses in bribery cases were prosecuted, with defamation charges being made against them.

"It is feared that this will deter public participation in solving corruption cases," Iskandar remarked, pointing to the similar case of Endin Wahyudin.

Endin is being tried in the Central Jakarta District Court after reporting to TGPTPK the allegations of bribery involving two Supreme Court justices, Marnis Kahar and Supraptini Sutarto, and former justice Yahya Harahap.

Iskandar also said that the indictment was "premature", since the legal processing of Zainal Agus, Director of Administration at the Supreme Court, still continues.

Zainal was tried at the South Jakarta District Court in June for allegedly receiving Rp 100 million in bribes from Maria. She had said in her report to TGPTPK that she gave the money to Zainal to bribe the Supreme Court justices who handled her case against Edy Handoyo, since Zainal claimed to have a good relationship with the presiding judge, I Ketut Suraputra.

The court dismissed Zainal's case in view of the fact that TGPTKP was dissolved on June 8, a week before the trial started.

The legal process, however, has not yet finished because the prosecutor plans to appeal.

Ironically, Maria then went on trial for defamation after Edy reported to the police that his reputation had been tarnished due to Maria's report.

In Thursday's hearing, Maria questioned why her report to TGPTPK, which should be confidential, could have been put in the hands of other parties.

She said that she had never reported Handoyo to TGPTPK, and insisted that Zainal had extorted her by aggressively demanding the bribes from her.

The trial will resume next week. (04)