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.