South Jakarta court drops defamation case

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.