'Tempo' to report Tomy to police for perjury

'Tempo' to report Tomy to police for perjury

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta

Lawyers for Tempo magazine journalists will report well-connected
businessman Tomy Winata to the police for allegedly giving false
testimony during the Tempo libel trial.

The decision was made following the judges' refusal to act on
the perjury allegation.

"We will certainly file a complaint with the police under
these circumstances, although we will probably wait until the
court finishes hearing the testimony of the defendants," said
lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, after a hearing at the Central
Jakarta District Court.

Monday's hearing was scheduled to hear the evidence of
defendants, but had to be adjourned until June 14, as most of the
prosecutors in the trial failed to turn up.

Presiding judge Soeripto reaffirmed that the judicial panel
had found no indications of perjury, and told the defendants to
file a complaint with the police instead if they thought
otherwise.

Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, along with journalists
Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali, are being prosecuted following
the bringing of a complaint by Tomy for allegedly defaming him
through an article titled "Is Tomy in Tenabang?", which was
published in the weekly's March 3 to March 9, 2003 edition. The
article insinuated that the businessman was involved in a fire
that razed the Tanah Abang textile market in February last year.

Tomy denies that he was interviewed by Tempo for the article,
and asked that the authenticity of a recording of the interview
be verified.

Trimoelja strongly questioned the panel of judges' refusal of
the defense request without giving clear grounds, when all the
testimony and evidence submitted to back up the request clearly
indicated in the view of the defense that Tomy had committed
perjury.

"The most convincing testimony came from expert Roy Suryo, in
which he verified that the voice on the recording of the
interview used for the article was the same as the voice on the
recordings of Tomy's own testimony, and hearings he attended with
the House of Representatives."

Article 147 of the Criminal Law Procedures Code states that a
presiding judge may order the prosecution of a witness who is
suspected of perjuring himself, and adjourn the trial pending the
outcome of such prosecution.

Article 242 of the Criminal Code, meanwhile, states that
anyone convicted of perjury faces a minimum seven-year jail
sentence, depending on whether or not the perjury prejudiced the
defendant in the original proceedings.

Bambang said it was important that the defense allegation of
perjury be followed up on so as to ensure the reliability of the
testimony given by the other witnesses in the case.

"If we don't report this, then other witnesses could also be
perceived as being tainted by perjury," he said.