Printer faces four years for defaming Soeharto

Printer faces four years for defaming Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): A state prosecutor asked the South Jakarta
District Court yesterday to sentence a printer to four years
imprisonment for defaming President Soeharto.

Prosecutor D. Munthe said Andi Syahputra, 32, had been proven
guilty of defamation because he had printed the unauthorized
Suara Independen magazine which contained defamatory articles.

"He has committed a blameworthy crime and it is clear that the
headline to an article in the magazine degrades the President and
tarnishes his image," the prosecutor said.

"It has been proven that he processed 12 films for printing
5,000 copies of the magazine," he said.

Munthe also told the court it was impossible for the defendant
not to have read the insulting headline because it was on the
main story in the edition.

"He also must have known the magazine was unlicensed," he
said.

A letter to the defense lawyer from MIPPA (The Australian-
based Indonesian Society for Alternative Press) sent several
months ago, said they took full responsibility for the
publication and content of the magazine.

The letter, which was shown to the judges last week, also said
Andi was not to blame for printing the magazine because he was
doing it just for the sake of his business.

The indictment said Andi had placed an order with the Zaiyan
Putra printery to print the magazine.

Andi was arrested with the owner of the printery, Jazrul Zen,
in October after police raided the shop and confiscated 3,000
copies of the magazine's October edition. Jazrul is currently
under city arrest.

Munthe said Jazrul had warned the defendant of the magazine's
harsh content, but Andi not only disregarded it but signed a
letter, prepared by the owner of the printery, saying the
printery was not responsible for the magazine's content.

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