Ex-Bakin chief sued in Tangerang

TANGERANG: The hearing of a slander lawsuit against ZA. Maulani, the former chief of the State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin), began on Thursday at the Tangerang District Court.

The suit was filed by Al Chaedar, the director of Madani Press Publishing and the chairman of Tangerang's Darul Islam, a Moslem- based organization, which fight for an Islamic state in Indonesia.

Chaedar accused Maulani, a resident of Jl. Kutilang VI in Bintaro Jaya, Tangerang, of defaming him through false statements published in Gatra magazine last December.

According to Chaedar, Maulani called him a liar who twice deceived then national education minister Wardiman Joyonegoro by requesting money from the ministry to attend seminars in the U.S. and Britain.

"But when he returned home, Al Chaedar had nothing to show for the seminars except Playboy magazines," Chaedar quoted Maulani as saying in the magazine.

The plaintiff demanded Maulani issue him an apology in the print and electronic media.--JP