Singaporean expert fails to testify

JAKARTA (JP): The president of Singapore-based ASEAN Intellectual Property Association, the defendant in the first ever cybercrime case here, failed to testify at a hearing held at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Suhardi presented Murgiana Haq as an expert witness in the trial of Tjandra Sugiono, who was charged with fraudulent competition for illegally registering the domain name, Mustika Ratu.com.

Tjandra, the former general manager of international marketing cosmetic firm, PT Martina Berto, the main competitor of PT Mustika Ratu, was ill, according to his lawyer Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin.

Presiding Judge Chasiany R. Tandjung, who looked disappointed, warned him not to obstruct the legal process before adjourning the session for a week.

Fierce competition between the two giant cosmetics producers, PT Mustika Ratu and PT Martina Berto, has been long-running.

Last year, the two were wrangled in a legal battle over the Taman Sari trademark. PT Mustika won the case as it had registered the copyright in 1997.

The two companies also competed to win the hearts of reporters. They, as well as Tjandra, distributed press releases at the court building each time the session was held.

PT Martina and Tjandra, a nephew-in-law of the company's owner Martha Tilaar, even hired public relation firms to help them deal with the press.

Meanwhile, a clerk at the court, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Jakarta Post that PT Mustika would give some money to reporters and the court's officers should they support them during the trial.

However, spokeswoman of PT Mustika, Retno Wigatiningrum, strongly denied the statement.

"Who said that? We would never do that, it is against law," she told the Post.(04)