'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)