Printer gets 30 months for defaming President Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): A printer was sentenced to two years and six months in jail here yesterday for defaming President Soeharto by having printed an unlicensed magazine that contained articles tarnishing the President's image.

The panel of judges at the South Jakarta District ruled that Andi Syahputra, 32, a printer, was guilty of defaming Soeharto by printing Suara Independen, an underground magazine, and by ordering the printing at his colleague's printery.

The sentence includes the time Andi has spent in police detention. He was arrested in October with his colleague when police raided the printery and confiscated 3,000 copies of the magazine.

Judge Marsel Bukhori, reading the verdict, said Andi had had time to cancel the order when the printery owner, Jazrul Zen, warned him the magazine contained "harsh articles".

The verdict said Andi should also have discussed the possibility of canceling the order with the men who gave him the order. The judges identified these men only as Bimo and Santoso.

But an earlier court session heard that the two represented an Australian-based organization, called MIPPA (Indonesian Society for Alternative Press), run by Indonesians.

The judges said Andi did not do try to cancel the order. "He even signed a letter saying the printery was not responsible for the contents of the magazine, meaning he took responsibility," said the verdict.

The verdict was also based on the testimony of a witness from the Ministry of Information, who said that whoever ordered the printing of a magazine was responsible for its publication if there was no editorial board list.

The judges said Andi deserved some leniency because he was still young, had two small children and deserved the chance to become a good citizen.

Andi told the court he would appeal to the High Court. (13)