'Tempo' trial nearing an end

Leony Aurora, Jakarta

The trial of Tempo weekly journalists, who were sued for libel by well-connected businessman Tomy Winata, is nearing an end with the final cross-examination of witnesses and defendants completed on Monday at the Central Jakarta District Court.

In three weeks, the prosecutors will convey their recommended sentence for defendants chief editor Bambang Harymurti and journalists Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali.

The defense team and the prosecution will be given time to present their arguments before the judges bring down the gavel.

The three are facing a maximum of four years in prison under Articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code on libel and a maximum of 10 years under Article 14 on provoking disorder for running an article titled "Is Tomy in Tenabang?" in the weekly's March 3-9, 2003, edition.

Bambang has maintained his stance that the article, which insinuated the tycoon was behind the fire that razed Tanah Abang textile market in February last year, included an interview with Tomy.

"(Therefore) his right to respond has been fulfilled."

Tomy has denied that such an interview took place.

Bambang admitted an error in the article in a quote from Hosea Petra Lumbun, the Central Jakarta mayor, allegedly interviewed by Tempo reporter Yuliantoro on Feb. 19, 2003.

Some of the information actually came from former mayor Andi Syukur Abdullah. However, Andi was interviewed when in office. "What matters is that an authorized official gave the information and not the name of the official," Bambang argued.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Taufik stressed in his last statement that the information in the article he wrote was not fabricated. "The proposal exists," he said, referring to a proposal to renovate Tanah Abang that mentioned Tomy's Bank Artha Graha as its financial backer. The proposal was allegedly submitted to city market operator PD Pasar Jaya months prior to the fire.

Lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi asked the court to return the original telephone record from state telecommunications company PT Telkom that was submitted as evidence of the interview with Tomy.

"We need it to file a complaint against Tomy for perjury with the police," said Trimoelja.