'Tempo story coused anxiety'
'Tempo story coused anxiety'
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two aides of Artha Graha corporation president Tomy Winata
testified on Monday that an article entitled 'Ada Tomy di
Tenabang?' published by Tempo magazine in March had caused
anxiety among the company's employees.
Tomy's private secretary Sylvia Hasan told the Central Jakarta
District Court that soon after the publication of the article --
which insinuates that Tomy could profit from the fire at Tanah
Abang textile market in Central Jakarta -- she and fellow
employees received a number of threatening phone calls.
"The first phone caller identified himself as Syahrial, one of
the victims of the Tanah Abang fire. He cursed and said bad
things about Pak Tomy," she said, adding that the next call she
received was on March 31, long after the publication of the
article in the March 3 to March 8 issue.
When Presiding Judge Andriani Nurdin asked her what she meant
by insecurity, Sylvia replied: "I'm afraid to go home by myself".
The trial in the libel suit against Tempo chief editor Bambang
Harymurti and journalists Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali is
part of the legal battle between the media group and Tomy Winata
which revolves around the March 3 article and several subsequent
articles.
The March 3 edition ran a story in which Tomy was said to have
submitted a proposal to rebuild Tanah Abang market, valued at Rp
53 billion (US$6.24 million), three months before the market was
gutted by fire.
The journalists, however, have been charged with violating
Article 14(1) of the Criminal Code on deliberately disseminating
rumors and publishing a defective report that could provoke
public disorder. It carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in
prison.
Another witness, David Tjioe, alias A Miaw, gave the same
account that the particular article provoked tension in the
business network of Artha Graha.
"All security guards with the company were told to remain
vigilant to prevent possible protests from the fire victims. We
were in full alert mode after the article was published," David,
also head of the Artha Graha's security division, told the
courtroom.
He testified that the article was thought to have provoked a
group of people, claiming they were representing Tanah Abang
street vendors, to vandalize two office buildings belonging to
Bank Artha Graha on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta and in the Mangga Dua
electronic store complex in Central Jakarta on March 3, the very
day the magazine hit the newsstands.
"My men told me that the people threw mud and rotten eggs at
the bank buildings," David said.
David led his security men as well as dozens of members of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle civilian security wing on
a protest that turned violent at the Tempo office on March 8. The
angry protesters eventually assaulted several journalists, but
David now claims that Tomy had instructed them not to go through
with the planned demonstration at Tempo. His testimony, however
was in direct contradiction to Tomy's earlier statement, wherein
the Artha Graha boss claimed he knew nothing about a
demonstration.
The presiding judge adjourned the trial until Nov. 10 to hear
more witnesses.