Ministry testifies in magazine case
Ministry testifies in magazine case
JAKARTA (JP): A Ministry of Information witness testified in
court yesterday that the editorial board of an unlicensed
magazine was responsible for its publication.
Bambang Wahyudi, head of the publication permit section of the
ministry, was testifying in a trial of a man charged with
defaming President Soeharto by printing an unlicensed magazine,
Suara Independen.
Bambang told the South Jakarta District Court that the person
who ordered the printing of the magazine was responsible for its
publication because it did not carry a masthead listing members
of the editorial board.
Answering judges Marsel Bukhori and Hasan Wahyudin about who
was in charge of printing a magazine in such circumstances,
Bambang said "the man who gives the original order."
The judges and prosecutor D. Munthe asked whether he meant the
person who initiated the original order or the person who took
the order to the printing shop. The witness said "the latter".
Standing trial was Andi Syahputra, 32, who was arrested in
October for ordering the printing of Suara Independen which was
edited in Australia.
He was arrested in October after police raided the printing
shop and confiscated copies of Suara Independen. The copies were
submitted to the court as material evidence.
Defense lawyer Irianto asked the court about the legality of
the seizure of the printed copies because the magazine was
incomplete and covers and several pages had not been printed.
"There might be a masthead listing the editorial board on the
unprinted pages," he said.
When the defense lawyer questioned Bambang's claim that the
man responsible was the one who took the order to the printing
shop, the witness answered, "the man or board that gave the first
order."
Nuryanto, a print worker, who also testified yesterday, said
Andi, the defendant, ordered him to make films of the dummy
magazine.
"I checked the films briefly but I did not pay attention," he
said.
Judge Hasan grumbled: "You knew the contents of the magazine
but you still made the films."
The trial was adjourned until next week. (13)