Military to sue 'Tajuk' for defamation

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)