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