High Court told to examine judges

High Court told to examine judges

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The lawyers for Tempo magazine urged the Jakarta High Court on
Thursday to scrutinize the new panel of district court judges
assigned to handle a defamation suit filed by businessman Tomy
Winata, following the judges' decision to uphold the asset
preservation order issued earlier against their clients.

Lead defense lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis argued that the High
Court should embark on "corrective measures" with regard to the
judges who upheld the ruling which has been deemed overly harsh
and unnecessary for a such a case, while adverslely impacting
Tempo co-founder Goenawan Mohamad and the press group's newspaper
Koran Tempo.

"As the lower court judges continue to make controversial
rulings, I suspect that the higher court, as its superior, has
not been carrying out its supervisory functions properly," he
told a media briefing.

On Wednesday, the East Jakarta District Court decided not to
annul the asset preservation order issued on Sept. 25 for
Goenawan's residence in East Jakarta, and the office buildings of
Koran Tempo in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

The assets were essentially frozen as a means of collateral
against Tomy's demand for Rp 21 billion (US$2.47 million), should
he win the case.

The original order was issued by another panel of judges, but
two of the three members were immediately transferred from the
case by the Supreme Court following public criticism, a very rare
occurrence.

The new panel of judges, led by judge Zainal Abidin Sangaji,
decided that the order would not be annuled before a final ruling
on the case was made.

The lawyers have asked the district court to annul the order,
highlighting the blatant mistake of the court to seize Koran
Tempo's rented office buildings.

Reiterating their point of objections on the order, Todung
said that the court's action to freeze Goenawan's property was
over the top.

"Goenawan Mohamad was one of the respected figures in the
country, a journalist with integrity, a man that Tomy should not
worry about fleeing with his assets," he said.

He asserted that the defamation suit itself, was nothing more
than a vengeful act by Tomy against Tempo and its journalists
rather than a purely legal settlement.