'Republika' denies being acquired by PDI-P, mulls lawsuit
'Republika' denies being acquired by PDI-P, mulls lawsuit
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Republika newspaper denied on Thursday The Jakarta Post's report
that certain members from President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
political party injected fresh funds into the Islamic-based
newspaper.
PT Abdi Bangsa, the publisher of the Republika daily, also is
considering a lawsuit against the Post for allegedly damaging its
image as an independent newspaper and a publicly listed company.
"The report carried by this daily (the Post) has extremely
disadvantaged us -- not only our image but also our
independence," PT Abdi Bangsa president Erick Tohir said.
He said the company will not use the right to reply to the
news report that appeared on the Post's front page on Thursday,
arguing that it was "not obligatory" to do so.
"We will directly use our legal right to respond to the case,"
he told the Post in an interview after a press conference at the
Hilton Hotel, Jakarta.
The Republika highlighted its complaints over the report that
people from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan) had put money into the company.
"Based on the law, any change of the composition of ownership,
management or capital in a publicly listed company must obtain
permission from the Jakarta Stock Exchange and Bapepam (the
Capital Market Supervisory Agency)," Erick argued.
He questioned how it would be possible to put new money into
such a public company without the approval of Bapepam and BEJ,
saying it was illogical.
Bapepam could summon the company's management to clarify the
article or even issue a fine if there was a failure to report the
alleged acquisition of its shares, he complained.
Asked whether it was true that Megawati's husband Taufik
Kiemas, his people or other party-affiliated investors entered
Republika by buying some of its shares, Erick said, "It's not
true ... I don't want to argue about this matter. We will study
it legally".
He also denied that people close to PDI Perjuangan helped
refinance Republika. "How could they (refinance us), while we
have no debts from banks so far."
Erick said his company received many facsimiles and SMS
messages from Republika's readers, complaining about the news
report.
He said the management had set up a team of lawyers from Soleh
Adnan Associates to deal with the case against the English
language newspaper.
"The lawyers are studying material and immaterial damages the
news report has caused before taking the case to court," he
added.
However, he could not say when his company would file a
lawsuit against the Post. "It depends on our lawyers," he added.
Erick stressed that the article claiming PDI Perjuangan's
affiliation with Republika could tarnish its image as an
independent newspaper.
"If it was true that PDI Perjuangan had come in, then we could
no longer be seen as an independent newspaper, while we, along
with the new management, have been striving hard for the last two
and a half years to change the image of Republika," Erick said.
It cannot be denied that the newspaper has been identified
with the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI),
he said.
"It doesn't mean that we are allergic to PDI Perjuangan. I
know some people from that party," he added.