Man disrupts court session

JAKARTA: A man claiming to be a supporter of businessman Tomy Winata disrupted the hearing of a defamation suit filed by Tomy against senior Tempo journalist Goenawan Mohamad at the East Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

Only seconds after presiding judge Zainal Abidin Sangaji started the hearing, the man, identified as Abdul Gani, approached the defense team and said the magazine had run libelous articles aimed at tarnishing the businessman's image.

"Your client has done wrong to Tomy Winata. Don't you know that he had done a lot of good things to poor people," he shouted at the defense team while banging on the desk.

The man then turned to the panel of judges, screaming "the trial is unfair."

The presiding judge called a security officer, after 10 minutes of the man's protest, who then forcefully led the man out of the courtroom.

The plaintiff's lawyer Erman Umar, who submitted evidence in today's trial, said he did not know Gani and Tomy had nothing to do with the incident.

The trial was adjourned to Oct. 29 to give the plaintiff's lawyers time to complete their evidence. -- JP