'Kompas' fights back in Sinivasan libel suit
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a legal twist on Monday, lawyers for Kompas daily countersued the owner of the Texmaco group, Marimutu Sinivasan, for vexatious litigation, and demanded US$150 million (approximately Rp 1.2 trillion) in damages.
"The plaintiff's lawsuit is baseless and it has hurt the national media," said the leader of the Kompas legal team, Amir Syamsuddin, rebutting the plaintiff's demand for $151 million in damages for news articles on Sinivasan and the Texmaco group since 1999.
Amir's argument was based on Sinivasan's failure to identify the relationships between himself and the 18 companies affiliated to Texmaco.
In his lawsuit, Sinivasan had asked the court to seize assets belonging to the daily, its founder Jakob Oetama and chief editor Soeryopratomo.
Amir also highlighted the absence of a legal agreement between the daily and the business group which, in accordance with a Supreme Court precedent, was a main precondition for a civil suit.
Further, he argued that the Civil Code stipulated that a libel suit became statute-barred after one year of its publication. The Civil Code also stipulated that serving the public interest was a good defense to a libel action.
Therefore, Amir said, 29 of the 34 news articles published between November 1999 and April 2003 could not be used as causes of action by the plaintiff.
"This action has further damaged the plaintiff's credibility," he added.
Sinivasan's lawyer Y.B. Purwaning M. Yanuar, from the law firm of Otto Cornelis Kaligis and Associates, asked Presiding Judge Iskandar Tjake to adjourn the hearing until July 14 for the defense to prepare their counterarguments.
The case is based on 34 articles and cartoons published in Kompas daily which the defense says tarnished the image of the businessman and Texmaco's 18 affiliated companies, and had prevented them from expanding their businesses and obtaining loans.
The articles mostly alleged nepotism in the granting of the facilities received by Sinivasan's original textile company from former president Soeharto, which were said to have enabled the company to expand into a group whose businesses also include engineering, chemical production and truck manufacturing firms.
Sinivasan's lawyers claimed these news articles had libeled their client and demanded $150 million to make good the group's material losses. The businessman also demanded the defendants be ordered to pay an additional $1 million in non-material damages.
Sinivasan also demanded that the defendants publish full-page apologies in a number of national dailies and magazines, and to take out airtime to apologize on national television.
In the meantime, Sinivasan has asked the court to seize the accused's assets to prevent them being disposed off pending the outcome of the case.
In a separate courtroom, Texmaco lawyers were also suing Tempo weekly magazine, demanded that the defendant be ordered to pay a total of $51 million in libel damages.
The judges adjourned both hearings until next week to hear further arguments from both the defense and the plaintiffs.