Defamation charges inaccurate, says lawyer
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)