'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.