KNPI chief threatens to sue 'Sinar' weekly

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) chairman Maulana Isman threatened yesterday to sue the weekly Sinar for allegedly tarnishing his name.

Maulana's lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution said in a statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post, that in its 47th edition dated Aug. 16, the news weekly carried out a report on his client which he considers baseless.

According to Buyung, in the weekly's Hukum (legal affairs) column page 26, Maulana was reported as having been questioned by police over a land dispute case and for faking an identity card (KTP).

The magazine, in its advertisement published by Kompas dated Aug. 10, 1997, on page 3, also mentioned that Maulana had "stumbled over a land case" in Cimenyan, Bandung.

"The report and the advertisement are not based on facts and are misleading not only for the readers but also for my client's family and his business relations," said Nasution.

Nasution said it was not true that police had ever questioned his client.

Nasution demanded the magazine pay Rp 1 billion in compensation and place an apology in five national newspapers for three consecutive days.

"If you fail to give a satisfactory response to my client, then we will take legal action," said Nasution. (prb)