'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.