Samudera files complaint to police

Samudera files complaint to police

JAKARTA: Reportedly angry at losing the top post at national
airline Garuda Indonesia, Samudera Sukardi, who is the elder
brother of State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi,
filed a defamation complaint against Garuda's former top director
Abdul Gani, at the National Police Headquarters on Monday.

Although Samudera filed the report in person, he refused to
comment on the matter.

His lawyer Wawan Iryawan said that Samudera had filed the
report based on Abdul Gani's slanderous statements about his
client, which were published in a local daily early this month.

"Abdul Gani accused my client, in the Media Indonesia daily,
of misusing billions of rupiah. The statements were published at
the same time as the appointment process to Garuda's top post was
taking place," Wawan told reporters.

"This is slander and needs to be dealt with through the legal
process."

The government recently installed Indra Setiawan as the new
boss of Garuda Indonesia, which ended weeks of speculation that
Samudera would lead the airline. --JP