Rahardi pleads illness, files libel suit against magazine

Muninggar Sri Saraswati The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The South Jakarta District Court postponed on Tuesday the hearing of former chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Rahardi Ramelan after the defendant claimed he was suffering from a sore throat.

After beginning the hearing at 9:30 a.m., presiding judge Lalu Mariyun read a letter from a doctor at the Cipinang Penitentiary, where Rahardi is being detained, explaining that the defendant was not healthy and needed two days of bed rest.

Rahardi, however, appeared in fine health and responded loudly and clearly to Lalu's questions.

Chief prosecutor Kemas Yahya Rahman, apparently suspicious of Rahardi's claim of illness, asked the court to allow Dr. Jose Rusman, a doctor from the Attorney General's Office, to examine Rahardi.

Lawyer OC Kaligis also demanded the court to allow Rahardi's wife, Tumbu Tri Iswari Astiani, to examine the defendant.

Tumbu is a retired anesthesiologist.

Lalu granted the request before adjourning the session until next week.

Rahardi is on trial in a Rp 62.9 billion corruption case in the Bulog scandal in which House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung is a defendant in a separate trial.

Akbar, who is not currently in custody, was one of five witnesses who were scheduled to testify in Rahardi's case on Tuesday. He arrived at the court at about 8.15 a.m., but he left about 20 minutes later after speaking privately with both the judges and the prosecutors. They allowed him to leave after he promised to return to the court at 11 a.m.

Another witness, former president B.J. Habibie, was not present during the hearing. Kaligis, who is also Habibie's lawyer, said that he is currently in Germany.

After the 30-minute hearing was over, Judge Lalu summoned journalists to his office. Accompanied by court spokesman Ida Bagus Putu, he said that Rahardi had filed a libel suit against Forum Keadilan magazine.

The lawsuit was in regard to an article in the March 24 edition about Rahardi's role in the Bulog scandal. Rahardi demanded the court to annul the magazine's license and to order the weekly to pay him Rp 1 billion in compensation.

The lawsuit was registered by Andar Situmorang, who is currently doing time at Cipinang Penitentiary for forgery. The East Jakarta District Court sentenced him to eight months in jail after he was found guilty of forging his bachelor's degree certificate from the law school of a private university here.

Rahardi's daughter, Dian Kunti Sintorini told reporters that her father never appointed Situmorang to represent him. She said that he planned to hire lawyer Luhut MP Pangaribuan to sue Forum Keadilan.