PWI to defend 'Sinar' reporters charged with trespassing
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta branch of the Association of Indonesian Journalists (PWI) formed a team of lawyers yesterday to defend two reporters facing prosecution for trespassing while spying on a daughter of the late president Sukarno.
The team will defend journalists Victoria I.G. Sijabat and Yul Adriansyah of the Sinar weekly news magazine who are to be tried for allegedly entering the residence of Rachmawati Soekarnoputri after being approached by her estranged husband, who claimed that she was dating a police officer.
The association, the only journalists' association recognized by the government, formed the team following a request for defense from Sinar's chief editor Sjam Alamsjah.
The lawyers, who are journalists, will be led by Bachtiar Sitanggang (Suara Pembaruan daily), Oemar Syamsuri (Kompas daily), Wina Armada (Forum weekly), Achmad Kuseni (Antara news agency) and Bob Silitonga (Berita Yudha daily).
"We're ready to defend our members," said Ilham Bintang, deputy chief of the of the association's Jakarta branch, said at a press conference yesterday.
The PWI was criticized last year for refusing to defend the hundreds of journalists rendered unemployed when the government banned the newsweeklies Tempo, DeTIK and Editor in June.
Rachmawati, a daughter of the late president Sukarno, called the police upon seeing the journalists enter her front yard, taking photographs without her consent.
They came to her house on June 5 on a tip-off from her estranged husband, who was also present at yesterday's press conference with Sinar editors and PWI officials.
Rachmawati, 44, and Dicky Suprapto, 54, have filed for a divorce with the local religious court, each accusing the other of having an affair.
A source at the city police detectives' unit told The Jakarta Post yesterday that they had not yet completed the dossiers on the reporters.
"We need a few more days to collect a little more evidence and to question some witnesses," he said.
The city police announced over the weekend that, on the basis of preliminary investigations, they already 1had enough evidence and witnesses to prosecute the two journalists with trespassing.
Police have vowed to complete the dossiers very soon and refer the matter to a court for prosecution unless Rachmawati agrees to an out-of-court settlement.
The reporters face a maximum term of imprisonment of nine months or maximum fine of Rp 4,500 (US$2) if they are found guilty.
Both Sjam and Ilham said they strongly believed that the two journalists were innocent, saying that they had violated no rules because they entered the residence with permission from Dicky.
At yesterday's press conference, however, it was disclosed that the rightful owner of the house is Rachmawati, not Dicky, who was with the journalists on the night of the incident.
"We think that she (Rachmawati) was wrong to prevent the journalists from investigating her case," said Ilham.
The journalists arrived at Rachmawati's house at about 9 p.m. on June 5 to interview Rachmawati in an attempt to prove that she and a senior police officer were living together in the house, as claimed by Dicky.
They were assigned the story after Dicky who came to the magazine office and said that Rachmawati and Benny would be at the house that evening, Yul said.
They went to the house together with Dicky in one car, he added.
After getting inside the front yard of the house, Yul took several pictures of three cars parked in front of the house while Victoria went to knock on the front door, he said. A servant appeared and told them that Rachmawati did not want to be disturbed, he added. (bsr)