Newspaper reporter tried for faking press card

JAKARTA (JP): A newspaper reporter was indicted at Central Jakarta District Court yesterday for faking a press identification card specially designed for members of the media covering the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in March this year.

Prosecutor Sambara Hasbul said the defendant, Minsidi Suharta, a stringer for Bandung Pos daily, superimposed his picture, name and employer on a card originally issued for Adhi Kurniawan from Ipphos photo agency.

Sambara told the court that the 27-year-old defendant forged the card on the eve of the session which opened on March 1 to elect a president and vice president.

The forged card gained Suharta access to the Assembly building and the use of free media facilities, including a facsimile machine and telephone provided by the committee. Sambara said the card had been used for eight days before the forgery came to light. The general session lasted for 11 days.

"The defendant caused losses to the MPR public relations department because he used the press center facilities during the general session," Sambara said.

He said the prosecutors had yet to calculate the total losses caused by the defendant in the three-and-a-half-month old case.

The reporter was charged under Article 263 (1) of the Criminal Code which carries a maximum punishment of six years in jail.

After the session, Suharta told The Jakarta Post outside the court that many other reporters had forged general session press cards.

He said the distribution of press identification cards, the responsibility of MPR public relations officers, had been chaotic.

Suharta said he was arrested at the Sahid Jaya Hotel on March 9 when he turned up to interview a member of the Armed Forces' Faction, Maj. Gen. Agum Gumelar.

There were rumors that Agum, who was in charge of the Wirabuana Military Command in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, at the time, had been appointed governor of West Java.

Suharta's daily was based in the West Java capital of Bandung but stopped publishing last Wednesday for financial reasons.

Shortly after his arrest, the newspaper's management denied being associated with the defendant.

"I'm sure my paper was afraid and thought that I was involved in a political case," he said.

After his arrest, police charged Suharta with committing a political activity which could endanger the president and vice president and for faking the press card.

"But they dropped the first charge for unknown reasons," he added.

Suharta still believes that he was detained because of his political activities. He was active member of Pijar Indonesia youth organization and a frequent participant in demonstrations.

Suharta, accompanied by his lawyers from Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said he was once questioned at Jakarta Military Police headquarters about his relationship with several people, including with former legislator Ibrahim Saleh and a number of activists from the banned People's Democratic Party (PRD) organization.

Ibrahim, who was arrested on March 6 for using an improper visitors card during the MPR general session, told military investigators that he did not know Suharta.

Presiding judge Rusdi As'ad adjourned the trial until Monday to hear the defendant's lawyers' statement. The defendant remains in detention at Salemba Penitentiary. (jun)