`Tempo' chief editor testifies to assault by Tomy backers

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti told the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday that he was assaulted by David Tjioe alias A Miauw, a minion of tycoon Tomy Winata, at the Central Jakarta Police station, under the watchful eyes of policemen.

He made the statement in the trial of David, who along with other supporters of Tomy, stormed the weekly's office on Jl. Proklamasi, Central Jakarta, on March 8, and assaulted several journalists. The crowd demanded that the journalists reveal the source of an article which they asserted had harmed Tomy's business interests.

Bambang told the court that Tomy's supporters later took him and fellow journalists, Ahmad Taufik and Karaniya Darmasaputra, to the police station in Kramat, Central Jakarta, where David and his men intimidated and hit him several times.

"He hit me right in the stomach and later kicked my left foot out of rage.

"Lastly he caressed my head and threatened me in intimidating language," he said.

Bambang said that during the "interrogation" at the police station, David even asked for a gun to shoot him.

David and Hidayat Lukman alias Teddy Uban, who was tried separately, were charged 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 prison.

Asked by presiding judge Sunaryo if the defendant conducted the interrogation merely as a joke, Bambang said: "They meant what they did, and the fact was we were being intimidated at that time."

Bambang regretted the fact that the police did nothing to prevent the journalists from being harassed further by David.

"Not only did they harass us, they also insulted the police. David even said that a number of policemen were on Tomy's payroll," he said.

David, according to Bambang, went even further by saying that he was the one who had provided the lights in the police station.

What Bambang said during the trial was no different from a chronology of the attack which has been written by journalist Taufik on the Internet.

Taufik was scheduled to testify in Teddy's trial on Tuesday, but he failed to turn up.

Through a letter sent to chief prosecutor Ramdhanu Dwiyantoro, Taufik said that he would not attend the hearing unless his safety was guaranteed.

Taufik said that if the police themselves failed to prevent violence from taking place within their own compound, he worried that such violence could also occur in court.

"I request to have members of the marine corps to protect me before, during and after the coming trials. It has been proven that in the past the presence of the marines has managed to keep a trial neutral amid the conflicting interests of the Indonesian Military," he said in a letter read by the prosecutor.

Taufik's request, however, will not be fulfilled as prosecutors insisted on having their long-time partners, the police, provide security for the trial's key witnesses.

Both trials will resume next Tuesday.