'Tempo' attack trial starts
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Central Jakarta District Court is scheduled to begin hearing on Wednesday a trial that the media and the wider public will be watching very closely.
It is not the trial related to the 1998 May riots or the two Semanggi shootings that occurred a few months later. No, those cases remain unresolved, despite the fact that the riots claimed hundreds of lives and several other people were killed in the Semanggi shootings.
The defendants in Wednesday's trial will be David, alias A Miauw, and Hidayat Lukman, alias Teddy Uban. They were among a group of people who allegedly attacked the office of the Tempo weekly on Jl. Proklamasi in Central Jakarta on March 8 and assaulted several journalists, including the weekly's chief editor Bambang Harymurti.
"They will be tried separately on Wednesday," a member of the defendants' legal team, Jamaluddin Lamanda, told The Jakarta Post.
A panel of judges, comprising presiding judge Sunaryo, Ridwan Mansyur and Dwiarso Budi, will hear both cases.
About 200 people staged a rally at the Tempo office on March 8, demanding the retraction of an article they said harmed the business interests of their patron, Artha Graha Group boss Tomy Winata.
The article inferred that the businessman, who is known to have ties with military officers, might have had some involvement with the mid-February fire that devastated the Tanah Abang textile market.
The protesters entered the Tempo office and took Bambang and journalists Ahmad Taufik and Karaniya Dharmasaputra to the Central Jakarta Police station for "further discussions".
At both the Tempo office and at the police station the journalists were harassed and assaulted, which the police officers present did nothing to stop.
Journalists across the country immediately reacted to the incident, launching a campaign to fight thuggery.
The Jakarta chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists filed a lawsuit against the police last week for their failure to prevent the assault.
Even though there are many cases of intimidation against the press, only five percent of them are sent to court, according to AJI.
Many observers, however, have questioned why the police case did not charge the suspects in Tempo case with violating the freedom of the press.
The Central Jakarta Police have charged David with violating Article 335 of the Criminal Code on encouraging others to perpetrate acts of violence, which carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail.
Teddy Uban was originally charged with violating Article 352 of the Criminal Code on minor assault, which carries a maximum penalty of three months in prison. Prosecutors later laid an additional charge against Teddy of violating Article 335.
The police have declined to explain why the suspects were not also charged under Article 4 of Law No. 40/1992 on the press, which carries a more severe punishment of two years in prison or a fine of Rp 500 million (US$55,500).
Besides David and Teddy, three other people -- Yosef, Septi and Abdul Haris Sumbi -- have been named suspects in the case.
"The investigators are still completing the dossiers on the other three suspects, who have all been charged with minor assault," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo told the Post Saturday.
Meanwhile, the police are investigating a defamation complaint filed by Tomy against Tempo over the article.
Investigators have named both Bambang and Taufik as suspects under the Criminal Code articles for defamation and libel, which carry a maximum punishment of nine months and four years in prison, respectively.
They have also been charged with violating Article 5(1) of the press law, on the media's obligation to respect religious norms and public decency, as well as to adhere to the principle of the presumption of innocence. The article carries a maximum penalty of a Rp 500 million fine.