Muzadi mulls suing 'Jawa Pos' over apology
Muzadi mulls suing 'Jawa Pos' over apology
JAKARTA (JP): Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Hasyim Muzadi is
considering filing suit against Surabaya-based Jawa Pos daily for
an inadequate apology for a report linking corruption to the
country's largest Muslim organization.
The chairman of East Java's Ansor Youth Movement, MH Rofiq,
said on Saturday the lawsuit would be filed as soon as possible.
He said the daily's apology was neither satisfactory nor in
keeping with the agreed terms, the manner of which demonstrated
the newspaper's sincerity and confession of guilt.
"The lawsuit is now under our study. Pak Hasyim has delegated
this matter to us," Rofiq told Antara on the sidelines of a
seminar on nationalism in Surabaya. He said NU was consulting its
lawyers regarding the lawsuit.
"It's likely that we will file our lawsuit in civilian court
because the libel deals with money. Pak Hasyim will probably
demand a certain sum of compensation," Rofiq said.
The daily agreed to publish a quarter-page apology on the
front page for seven consecutive days, build a mosque and take
disciplinary actions against reporters after hundreds of angry
NU's Banser civilian guards raided its office following a report
on corruption two weeks ago.
In its May 6 edition, the daily quoted Tempo weekly magazine
which had misidentified a man named Hasyim Muzadi as Hasyim
Wahid, President Abdurrahman Wahid's younger brother, in a Rp 35
billion embezzlement scandal linked to recent leadership changes
at the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).
The magazine apologized for the error and sent a personal
letter to Hasyim to seek his forgiveness.
Abdurrahman later reprimanded the daily for the coverage and
alleged it was part of an attempt to topple his government. He
also denied the alleged corruption.
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman announced on Friday that his
office together with a Bulog team led by its chief Rizal Ramli
were investigating the missing Rp 35 billion from the agency.
East Java's Ansor also released on Saturday a white book on
the much criticized raid by Banser on the Jawa Pos office at
Graha Pena building.
The document contains facts on the background to the daily
office's occupation by Banser guards.
Rofiq said 100,000 copies of the book would be distributed to
NU executives nationwide and other related institutions.
"The book is published to help people look into the case
proportionally," he said. (01)