Man confesses to art attack

JAKARTA (JP): A man admitted to having damaged a valuable painting by the late Hendra Gunawan in the Central Jakarta District Court Wednesday.

Sri Sugeng Edhi Kwartanto, alias Teted Sri WD, confessed to damaging the painting while he was being questioning by presiding judge Zulkifli Lubis.

A witness, Mizwar, a painting maintenance worker, had earlier testified that the defendant had damaged one of Hendra's paintings -- valued at about Rp 100 million (US$27,777) -- by rolling it up.

"I did not just roll up the painting. I folded it and trampled on it," Teted said.

The judge, prosecutor Lukimanto, and defense lawyer Dwi Ria Latifa appeared surprised by the defendant's confession.

The painting which is titled Aku dan Istriku Karmini di Lonceng Kedua (Me and my wife Karmini at the second bell) was found damaged, hanging on the wall of the Jakarta Arts Council's office in the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts complex on Jl. Cikini Raya, Central Jakarta, in November.

It was painted in 1976 by Hendra, who died in 1983.

Teted, a choreographer, said that he did it as a protest because Hendra was once involved in the banned Lekra, an arts organization under the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party.

"I don't want communist thoughts to grow again in the country. It's a kind of expression of my sense of belonging to the country," he said.

Teted is charged with stealing and damaging the painting under Article 363 and Article 406 of the Criminal Code.

If found guilty he could face a maximum seven years in jail. (jun)