Journalist recalls attack

Journalist recalls attack

A Tempo journalist told the Central Jakarta District
Court on Tuesday that he was hit by a tissue box thrown by
Hidayat Lukman, alias Teddy Uban, during a protest at the
weekly's office over an article about businessman Tomi Winata.

Abdul Manan, who was testifying in the trial of David Tjioe,
alias A Miauw, another supporter of Tomi, said Teddy threw the
tissue box at Ahmad Taufik, one of the journalists who wrote the
story, detik.com reported.

The incident took place on March 8 on the third floor of the
Tempo office, in the presence of several police officers. Outside
of the building, about 200 people were holding a demonstration to
demand the magazine issue a correction for the article, which
suggested Tomi was involved in the fire that badly damaged the
Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta.

Teddy, who also testified at David's trial, said the article
damaged the reputation of his boss, Tomi. He also said that
because of the story, Tomi's office on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta in
Central Jakarta was hit by rotten eggs thrown by unidentified
assailants.

Teddy and David are being tried separately on charges of
violating Article 335 of the Criminal Code on encouraging others
to perpetrate acts of violence, which carries a maximum
punishment of one year in prison.

Also, Taufik and Tempo editor Bambang Harymurti have been
named as suspects by the police following a defamation and libel
complaint filed by Tomi, the owner of the Artha Graha Group. --JP