Editor asks court to acquit him

JAKARTA: The chief editor of Indonesian daily newspaper Rakyat Merdeka asked the South Jakarta District Court to acquit him of defaming Golkar party leader Akbar Tandjung.

In response to prosecution demands for a five-month jail term for publishing a caricature of the disgraced politician, lawyers acting for Karim Papulungan told the court Tuesday that their client was innocent.

The lawyers said that during the trial the prosecutors had manipulated fact and tricked Karim into testifying that all witness testimonies were true.

Karim did not believe that the testimonies of all witnesses were true, especially regarding statements he had defamed and attacked Akbar's dignity, the lawyers said.

The trial was adjourned till next week when the court is expected to deliver its verdict.

The controversial caricature accompanied an article entitled Akbar finished, Golkar cries tears of blood on the front page of the paper's Jan. 8, 2002 edition.

The caricature was published after a court sentenced Akbar to three years in jail for his role in a corruption case involving Rp 40 billion (US$4.8 million) intended to feed the poor. Akbar remains free pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Another of the paper's editors, Supratman, is on trial for publishing stories deemed insulting to President Megawati Soekarnoputri.-- Antara