South Jakarta court drops defamation case

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court decided on Monday to dismiss a case against a woman charged with defamation over her report of alleged bribery to the now defunct Joint Anticorruption Team (TGPTPK).

The panel of judges, which was presided over by Solbaiti Sesunan, stated that the charges against Maria Leonita Sri Chandra Harumi were "inaccurate and incorrect".

"Therefore, the prosecutors' indictment is annulled for the sake of justice," Solbaiti said before the court.

She said that the indictment failed to accurately reveal the location and time of the crime.

According to Solbaiti, the indictment did not specify whether the alleged crime happened when the defendant filed a report on July 17, 2000 with TGPTPK or prior to that date, when the defendant drafted her report in her home in Sunter Podomoro, North Jakarta.

The panel of judges also rejected copies of documents which were submitted as evidence by the prosecutors, saying they were not valid.

"Copies of documents cannot be used before the court to substantiate dossiers," Solbaiti said.

After the hearing, prosecutor Hudjali told reporters that he would discuss with his supervisor whether to appeal to a higher court following the decision.

Meanwhile, Maria expressed happiness over the court's decision.

Iskandar Sonhadji, Maria's lawyer, hailed the judges. "They have integrity. This (decision) is a good start to combat corruption in the country," he said, expecting that the court would reopen a corruption case against Zainal Agus, a state administrative director at a Jakarta court.

Maria was a witness in a bribery case against Zainal in the same court. He was tried in June for allegedly receiving Rp 100 million in bribes from Maria.

According to her report to TGPTPK, Maria gave the money to Zainal to bribe the judges hearing her case against Edy Handoyo after Zainal claimed to have a good relationship with the judge handling the case, I Ketut Suraputra.

The South Jakarta District Court dismissed Zainal's case on the grounds that the TGPTKP was dissolved on June 8, a week before the trial started.

Ironically, Maria went on trial for defamation after Edy reported to the police that Maria had tarnished his reputation by filing a report with TGPTPK alleging his involvement in bribery.