Leadership dispute in Analisa daily continues

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post Medan

The dispute among the co-founders of the Medan-based Analisa daily remains unsettled with plaintiff Supandi Kusuma complaining that the management of the daily has yet to carry out a February court order that his status be restored.

Lawyer Umar Witariyo, who represents Supandi, said on Friday that the management had yet to restore the status of his client, who was deputy general manager of the daily and treasurer of the publishing company -- the Sikap Pres Foundation -- after the latter was ousted from the daily's management board in December last year.

"To this point, the accused has yet to carry out the court's order," Umar told The Jakarta Post.

On Feb. 27, the court issued a decision, ordering the management to dissolve three of its official documents which had nullified Supandi's status and rights as the deputy general manager.

The case centers around a meeting held on Dec. 14, 2001 which was attended by the Foundation's chairman Harta Susanto, the commissioner Joeli Salim and representatives of the worker's welfare foundation -- Januar Junaedi, Sabrina, and Jusna Wijaya -- and public notary Siti Asni Pohan.

Supandi had missed the meeting, claiming that the invitation sent by the management stated that the meeting was scheduled for Dec. 18, 2001.

The meeting issued three documents which included, the decision to change Supandi's position as the treasurer of the Foundation into a member of the board of commissioners and that Supandi was no longer the deputy general manager.

Following the meeting, Supandi's name was no longer mentioned in the daily's masthead.

After several ignored complaints, Supandi then took the case to court.

However, Harta Susanto, who is also Chief Editor of Analisa, dismissed the accusation that he had ignored the court's order, saying that the court had never ordered him to put Supandi's name back in the masthead.

Harta's lawyer Sofwan Tambunan told the Post on Friday that his client had postponed the implementation of the three documents.

Sofwan, however, failed to elaborate on the reasons behind Supandi's dismissal, saying that it was the policy taken by Harta Susanto.