'Tempo' attackers charged with minor offenses

'Tempo' attackers charged with minor offenses

M. Taufiqurrahman and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Marked by the presence of hundreds of people alleged to be
those taking part in storming the weekly's office, the trial of
the Tempo attack began on Wednesday at the Central Jakarta
District Court, with prosecutors accusing the defendants of only
committing a minor offense.

The defendants David Tjioe, alias A Miauw, and Hidayat Lukman
alias Teddy Uban, minions of tycoon Tomy Winata were both
indicted for violating Article 335 of the Criminal Code on
encouraging others to perpetrate acts of violence, which carries
a maximum punishment of one year in prison.

The first indictment for David, read by chief prosecutor,
Ramdhanu Dwiyantoro, said that the defendants committed an act of
violence against Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, who
declined to reveal the source of an article which he said harmed
the business interests of Tomy Winata.

As for Teddy Uban who was tried separately, prosecutor M.
Manik said that the defendant verbally and physically harassed
journalist Achmad Taufik. He was accused of violating the same
article.

Teddy and David -- who were placed under city arrest from
April 1 to April 20 -- were among a group of people who stormed
the weekly's office in early March, demanding a retraction of
article insinuating that Artha Graha Group's Tomy Winata was
responsible for a fire that devastated the Tanah Abang market in
mid-February.

The indictment, however, made no mention of three other people
-- Yosef, Septi and Abdul Haris Sumbi -- who had previously been
named as suspects.

Police earlier said that dossiers for the three had to be
completed before they could be brought to court, but sources
revealed that they would be presented merely as witnesses.

Prosecutors, in the indictment, only stated four names --
David, Haris, Habib Hamid and Guntur -- without any clarification
regarding their status in the case.

After prosecutors read the indictment, presiding judge Sunaryo
concluded the hearing, announcing that a follow-up hearing was
scheduled for April 22.

Farhat Abbas, one of the defendants' lawyers, said that
considering that his clients were indicted only for a minor
offense, the advocates would not submit a defense statement and
would instead submit a plea.

He, however, played down the possibility of presenting Tomy as
a witness in the next hearing.

In the course of the hearing, hundreds of people alleged to be
the security guards of Tomy were seen inside the court building.
They were easily recognizable from their uniforms.

Separately, as many as 30 people under the organization
Solidarity for Press Freedom visited the Jakarta Police
Headquarters in a bid to complain to the police for not charging
David and Teddy, the alleged attackers of Tempo under Law No.
40/199 on the media. Under the law, persons can be charged for
obstructing journalists from reporting.

Among the protesters were Leo Batubara, the chairman of SPS
print media publisher group, senior journalist Fikri Jufri and
noted economist Faisal Basri.

The protesters met police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Prasetyo as
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara was not
available.

"Why didn't the police charge them under the law?" said Bimo
Nugroho, one of the protesters.

Bimo also questioned the police's move to name Bambang
Harymurti and Ahmad Taufik as suspects in a defamation suit filed
by Tomy.

The protesters warned that the police's move may threaten
press freedom in the country.