'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.