Tomy says 'Tempo' article false and unfounded
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After a week's delay, businessman Tomy Winata finally appeared at the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday to testify in the legal battle between himself and Tempo weekly, denying all accusations made against him as published in the magazine's articles.
Tomy, who failed to appear last week "due to illness", told the courtroom that he did not submit a proposal to the Jakarta administration for the reconstruction of Tanah Abang textile market in Central Jakarta after it was razed by fire on Feb. 19, as published in the weekly's article entitled 'Ada Tomy di Tenabang?'.
He said that the article -- which called Tomy a "big scavenger" -- insinuated that he deliberately set the market on fire to reap the subsequent contract. The article, according to him, had also damaged his reputation as a businessman.
"The article has tarnished my image as a credible businessman. Many of my colleagues questioned whether what was written in the article was true," he said.
Tomy also said that he was not contacted by the weekly's reporters to confirm the existence of such a proposal.
"I was never interviewed by a Tempo journalist and the voice on the tape is not mine," he said, after the court played a tape of a telephone interview.
The testimony contradicts the statement made by Tomy in the very same article, which said that he in fact returned the call of one of the weekly's reporters.
In the article, published in the March 3 edition, Tomy answered the reporter's question in a raised voice: "You are not the first reporter to ask me the question, in fact you are the sixth person. I never spoke to anyone from the city administration about the renovation proposal and if your accusation is true I will give you half of my property."
In the same article, it was also mentioned that Tomy had made a proposal, valued at Rp 53 billion (US$6.24 million) to renovate the market. He was said to have made the bid long before fire destroyed a total of 2,420 of the market's 7,594 shops.
The article and a number of subsequent articles have been the source of a prolonged legal battle between Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, journalists Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali and the businessman.
They are charged with violating Article 14(1) of the Criminal Code for deliberately disseminating rumors and publishing a defective report that could provoke public disorder. It carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Monday's court hearing was also marked by a tense exchange between Tomy and the Tempo defense team, who criticized him for giving a lengthy and pointless explanation.
Dozens of Tanah Abang vendors held a demonstration in front of the court, demanding that the panel of judges issue a just verdict. They said that they had suffered from the fire and refused to be further victimized by the disputing parties.
The market's reconstruction will start in mid December and the Rp 600 billion investment will be provided by business partners of city market operator PD Pasar Jaya, to be announced early next month.
Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin adjourned the trial to Nov. 3, to hear testimonies from two other witnesses Anton Anggoman and Andi Betung.