'Tempo' trial adjourned

'Tempo' trial adjourned

JAKARTA (JP): A trial pitting ex-Tempo magazine employees against Minister of Information Harmoko was adjourned yesterday because the court secretary in charge of dossiers has left for Mecca for the haj pilgrimage.

Presiding judge Leo Hutagalung opened the hearing yesterday only to announce that the trial could not proceed because the lawsuit papers were not available.

Hutagalung tentatively set the next hearing for May 8, and promised to look for the documents in the meantime.

Lawyer Rita Serena Kolibonso, representing the 39 Tempo employees, scoffed at the court's inability to continue the trial.

"The judges should have had the dossiers with them and the court's secretary could have been replaced with another secretary," she said after the trial.

The Tempo employees are contesting Harmoko's decision to revoke the magazine's publishing permit in June last year, a move which led to its closure. (imn)