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