High court turns down Soeharto's libel appeal

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta High Court has turned down former president Soeharto's appeal against a verdict on a libel suit against Time weekly for publishing an article which alleged that the long-time authoritarian amassed vast wealth.

Time's lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, said on Tuesday that the high court's decision was handed down on March 16 by a panel of judges led by Gde Soedharta.

"We received the announcement letter last Wednesday," he told a media conference here.

The high court upheld the June 6, 2000 verdict by the Central Jakarta District Court.

According to Todung, the high court stated that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the New York-based magazine had defamed the ex-strongman through its May 24, 1999 cover story titled Soeharto Inc: How Indonesia's longtime boss built a family fortune.

The court also stated that Time had fulfilled journalistic standards required to publish the story.

Furthermore, the court also obliged Soeharto to pay the cost of the trial, amounting to some Rp 5 million (US$500).

"We believe that the decisions represent important victories for the rights of a free press in Indonesia," said the newly installed chief editor of Time Inc. Asia, Adi Ignatius, who also attended the conference.

He also asserted that people may see the lawsuit as a case of an American organization against Indonesia.

"But it's actually the victory of international press," he said.

Soeharto filed the lawsuit in July 1999 and sought Rp 189 trillion (US$22.2 billion based on Tuesday's rate) in damages over the Time article.

The magazine, the flagship of Time Warner Inc., reported in the article that Soeharto and his family amassed a fortune of about $15 billion, including $9 billion said to be stashed in an Austrian bank account.

Soeharto has denied the report, saying he did not have a "single cent" squirreled away abroad. (hdn)