Press body named in defamation trial

Press body named in defamation trial

JAKARTA (JP): A man on trial for defaming President Soeharto
by printing unlicensed Suara Independen magazine told the court
yesterday the printing order came from a private organization.

Andi Syahputra, 32, told the South Jakarta District Court the
order to print 5,000 copies of the magazine came from Bimo and
Santoso, members of The Indonesian Society for Alternative Press
(MIPPA), whom he had known for years.

He said he understood the magazine was to be distributed among
MIPPA members, legislators and universities.

Andi said he asked another printery to do the job because his
was busy. He said it was the fourth time he had done the job but
the three previous editions had been printed at another
printeries

"I asked Zaiyan Putra's print shop to print the magazine as
soon as possible because I was given only five-days to fill the
order," he said.

He was arrested with Jazrul Zen, the owner of the printing
business, in October after police raided the shop and confiscated
3,000 copies of Suara Independen.

Responding to the judge's query about whether he knew the
magazine's content, he said he had only read the first six
articles.

One of them was an interview with Sri Bintang Pamungkas who
said he would challenge Soeharto in a direct presidential
election. Bintang is an outspoken critic of the President's
policies and a former member of the House of Representatives.

The defense lawyer, Irianto Subiakto, later showed the judge a
letter from the head of MIPPA, who lives in Australia, saying the
organization was responsible for the content of the magazine.

After the hearing Irianto showed copies of the letter to
reporters.

"Any complaint should be addressed to us," said the letter
signed by Benjamin Kurnia, the MIPPA chairman.

The letter said that the MIPPA had ordered Andi to print the
magazine and that he did it only in the interests of his
business.

It also said the magazine was still being published to uphold
the rights of the Indonesian people free access to information.

"The magazine is also printed in Australia, the U.S., and
Europe," it said.

Andi was charged under Article 134 of the Penal Code which
carries a maximum six years imprisonment. (13)