Journalists continue with plan to sue mayor

Journalists continue with plan to sue mayor

JAKARTA (JP): Ten young journalists in Surabaya have appointed
vocal lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi to represent them in their
libel lawsuit against the city's mayor for threats made against
them last month.

Trimoelja confirmed to The Jakarta Post by phone last night
that he and several other Surabaya lawyers have been given the
power of attorney in their court battle against Mayor Sunarto
Sumoprawiro.

Other lawyers enlisted include Rahman Algadri of the East Java
office of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin); and Indro
Sugianto, Eko Muryanto, and Munir of the local office of the
Indonesian Legal Aid Institute.

Trimoelja earned notoriety last year in his defense of the
main suspect in the murder case of labor activist Marsinah. His
defense led to the acquittal of his client, and subsequently of
the other eight defendants.

"The journalists cannot accept the mayor's arrogant statements
and moves," Trimoelja said, adding that he would file the lawsuit
at the Surabaya district court today.

Mayor Sunarto last month threatened the journalists covering
the activities of East Java Governor Basofi Sudirman because he
felt that their reports showed his boss in a negative light.

Unless the journalists cleaned up their act, the mayor said he
would hound them out of the city and bulldoze their homes into
"green areas" for Surabaya.

The journalists contacted their lawyers on Tuesday after what
was originally supposed to be a "reconciliation" dinner at the
Shangri-La Hotel in Surabaya between the mayor and the
journalists. The gathering quickly turned into a farce with the
mayor refraining from making an outright apology.

Instead, he simply said: "Let's forgive one another."

The mayor did not stay around for the dinner and left quickly
before the journalists could respond.

Unlike the young journalists, the East Java chapter of the
Association of Indonesian Journalists said it has accepted the
mayor's statement as an apology and that for them the matter was
closed.

Present at the dinner were Governor Basofi Sudirman, commander
of the regional military command Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo, chief of
the East Java police Maj. Roesmanhadi, head of the East Java
provincial legislative council Trimarjono, and a number of local
and national journalists. (imn)