Dewi Sukarno tells court she was physically abused

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ratna Sari Dewi, one of former president Sukarno's widows, appeared in the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday to testify against monthly magazine What's On's chief editor, Warsito Wahono, who is accused of assaulting her.

Warsito is accused of physically abusing Dewi during a painting exhibition at the Regent Hotel on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, two years ago.

Wearing a cream suit, Dewi told the hearing, which was packed with reporters, that Warsito had assaulted her before two hundreds guests who were attending the exhibition.

She claimed that her lips had been hurt and her arms bruised due to the incident.

"I think he has an obsession over me," Dewi told the court, which was presided over by Judge Syamsul Ali.

The case occurred on May 4, 2000, at about 8 p.m in the lobby of the Regent Hotel. At the time waitress Simon Siboro spilled beer on Dewi's gown while Dewi was looking at some paintings she wanted to buy.

Warsito, who saw the incident, laughed at her, according to Dewi.

Upset, Dewi approached Warsito to warn him not to laugh, she said. But before she had uttered a word, Warsito grabbed her arms and, when she attempted to push him back, Warsito's wig fell off.

"He was upset and hit me on the face and pushed me so that I fell on the floor," said Dewi, who had known Warsito for 15 years before the incident happened.

Warsito rejected Dewi's statements, saying that her testimony was fabricated.

Outside the courtroom, he admitted that he had laughed at her, but denied assaulting her.

Warsito is charged under article 351 (1) of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of two years and eight months in jail.

Last month, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Warsito to one year in jail for copyright violation by publishing some sensual photographs of Dewi taken from her book Madame D Syuga without her permission.

The book is banned in Indonesia.

In 1992, Dewi was found guilty by a U.S. court of assaulting Victoria Marie Osmena, a granddaughter of former Philippine president Sergio Osmena, during a party in Aspen, Colorado.

The court sentenced her for 60 days in jail and ordered her to pay a US$700 fine.