Marzuki to submit written testimony at 'Time' hearing
Marzuki to submit written testimony at 'Time' hearing
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman will give his
written testimony in the hearing of a legal dispute between New
York-based Time magazine and former president Soeharto next week,
the magazine's lawyer said on Tuesday.
"The attorney general's written statement is scheduled to be
heard in the hearing next week," Time's defense lawyer Todung
Mulya Lubis announced at a hearing at the Central Jakarta
District Court, presided over by Judge Sihol Sitompul.
"The written statement is about the progress report of the
Attorney General Office's investigation into the former
president's alleged practices of corruption, collusion and
nepotism (KKN)," Todung said.
He said Marzuki's written testimony was in lieu of his
presence in Tuesday's hearing.
"I contacted him (Marzuki) this morning, but he said he had
another important engagement," he said without elaborating.
"However, the attorney general said he would submit a written
testimony," he added.
Todung's request to be allowed to submit written testimony by
the attorney general sparked heated debate between the lawyers
for the plaintiff and the lawyers for the defense in Tuesday's
hearing.
Soeharto's lawyers objected to the proposal, saying the
attorney general's written testimony would only cause confusion
in the trial.
"The attorney general is the key person in the ongoing
investigation into the former president," O.C. Kaligis told the
hearing, which started at 10:30 a.m.
Mohammad Assegaf, another lawyer representing Soeharto,
challenged the urgency of the attorney general's written
testimony.
"We can't examine and verify the attorney general's testimony
if the hearing only hears his written statement," Assegaf said.
Todung defended the proposal, saying the attorney general's
testimony was significant to the prosecution as the office's
investigation covered the alleged KKN practices by the former
president.
"The attorney general's testimony will provide the panel of
judges with a clear picture of whether the magazine reported the
president's alleged KKN in a proportional manner," he told the
hearing.
Judge Sihol then decided to allow the testimony to be heard,
but went on to say that the judges would have the authority to
determine the validity of the evidence.
"The court will hear the attorney general's written testimony,
but it must contain only facts and not conclusions or arguments,"
the judge said.
Tuesday's hearing also heard the testimonies of senior
journalist Sabam Siagian and linguist Anton M. Moeljono.
Soeharto was represented by, among others, Juan Felix
Tampubolon, Kaligis, Assegaf and Indriyanto Seno Adji, while the
magazine was represented by, among others, Todung, Lelyana
Santosa and Kamal Firdaus.
Sabam said the magazine had not defamed Soeharto since the
reputation of the former president had been ruined long before
the magazine published its cover story on the strongman in its
May 24 edition last year.
"There were many other domestic or overseas publications that
touched on the negative sides of the former president," said
Sabam, former chief editor of The Jakarta Post, while citing a
1996 publication of the Sydney Morning Herald which likened the
Soeharto family to the family of the Republic of Philippine's
former autocrat Marcos.
Sabam also refuted that the caricature of Soeharto on the
magazine's cover was defamatory.
"It is subjective, since people will have their own
perceptions over the picture," he said.
The magazine's cover showed a picture of Soeharto with a large
US$100 banknote in the background.
Soeharto filed the lawsuit against the magazine in July last
year. He is demanding the magazine pay him Rp 189 trillion (US$27
billion) in damages for suggesting in its articles that he and
his family had amassed a $15 billion fortune during his 32-year
reign.
Sihol adjourned the hearing until next week, when Todung is
scheduled to submit the attorney general's written testimony.
(asa)