Military to sue 'Tajuk' for defamation
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Military Command will sue Tajuk biweekly for defamation over a Sept. 3 report alleging complicity of the command and its former chief in the mid-May riots, an officer said on Tuesday.
Command spokesman Lt. Col. DJ. Nachrowi told reporters the lawsuit would be filed against chief editor Mohammad Cholid at the South Jakarta District Court. The command is also seeking damages of about Rp 600 billion from the magazine for defamation.
The Tajuk biweekly's reports included allegations of the involvement of Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, who left the command's top position in July, and his personnel in the riot and the abduction of several activists earlier in the year.
"We are forced to take legal procedures because the report has violated existing legal norms and regulation. The report is totally false and certainly has created a misleading opinion among the people," Nachrowi said.
Although he did not specify a date for filing suit, he said it would be "as soon as possible".
Damages, he added, were calculated in line with the money spent by the military to maintain security in the capital during the general election in May 1997 and the 1998 general session in March.
Nachrowi denounced as baseless an article in the latest edition of the seven-month-old magazine, titled Saksi-saksi setelah 100 hari (Witnesses after 100 days).
The report quoted an old man whose child reportedly burned to death in a fire at a mall in Tangerang. The man related hearing from a member of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) that the riots were planned.
The officer, according to the man, told him he was ordered to attend a briefing at the command headquarters in East Jakarta when the general session opened on March 1.
He said Sjafrie, who was accompanied by the then commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command, Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, announced two assignments.
The first was to abduct outspoken students and activists who sought to overthrow the New Order regime of Soeharto. The second, the man quoted the officer as saying, was to kill the students if they failed to heed warnings to desist from their protests.
The officer also said there were plans to rape ethnic Chinese women for political motives, particularly to help Prabowo ascend to head the Armed Forces (ABRI).
Military personnel were responsible for the burning and looting of property during the riot, the man was quoted as saying.
"It's totally untrue and it does not correspond to the facts. We were posted in all parts of the city so we know exactly what was happening at that time," Nachrowi said.
He refused to say more except "just wait for the trial".
A military source told The Jakarta Post on Monday there was no briefing at the command on March 1, and the troop was already deployed to safeguard the House of Representatives. Sjafrie was also seen on patrol at the compound on that date.
Nachrowi said it would be up to Sjafrie to decide whether to sue the magazine in his personal capacity.
He complained that Tajuk reporters had never tried to verify the article's contents with the military.
"Nobody ever came to me to confirm the matter."
He said the command had set up a team of legal advisors from the command's legal affairs department, including Col. Djoko Sudirman (the department's chief), Maj. Oke Riyanto and Capt. Son Haji.
The magazine's general manager, Marah Sakti Siregar, backed the contents of the articles, saying the reports were compiled from several thorough investigations.
"All that is written in the article are facts. We do not improvise and we have checked and rechecked. If they want to test the validity, please do so. Our reporters gave their utmost effort," Marah told the Post on Tuesday.
"We did not intend to corner ABRI by revealing the facts."
He explained that no officers were available when reporters tried to confirm details of the articles.
Although he said he had yet to hire a lawyer, Marah claimed to have received support from the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). (ivy)