'DeTAK' takes Syarwan's complaint in its stride
'DeTAK' takes Syarwan's complaint in its stride
JAKARTA (JP): Newly launched DeTAK tabloid has said it is
unfazed by a police complaint filed by Minister of Home Affairs
Syarwan Hamid, adding that he turned down offers to give his side
of the story in the disputed editions.
Chief editor Eros Djarot told The Jakarta Post here yesterday
the publication had not received a formal copy of the complaint,
but said he was "relaxed, albeit ready" to face a possible legal
battle.
"But there's one thing that must be remembered: Government
officials in this country must never ignore the people's rights
to information.
"We are professional journalists, we won't let anyone ever
insult us," said Eros, who is also a renowned movie director.
Police detective unit chief Col. Edi Darnadi on Thursday said
the National Police headquarters' language experts would begin
studying editions 002 and 003 of the tabloid after a compliant of
defamation of Syarwan was lodged by the ministry's legal bureau.
In the editions, Syarwan, while serving as the Armed Forces
chief of sociopolitical affairs, was alleged to have been
involved in the ouster of Megawati Soekarnoputri as chairwoman of
the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in June 1996.
Syarwan was also allegedly involved in the bloody takeover of
the PDI headquarters here a month later.
Eros argued Syarwan was asked several times to give his
account of the story for the two editions.
"We called him up and tried to set an interview with him, even
submitting to him a list of questions.
"We tried to convince him (to tell his side of the story) to
anticipate possible public attacks caused by the reports... but
he turned it down."
Eros said the tabloid would print Syarwan's side of the story
if the latter wanted to use his right to do so.
"Oh yes, of course! We are open. How many pages (would he
like)?" Eros said.
Police said the complaint accused the tabloid of violating
articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code, which cover defamation
and libel. (aan)