Tomy says 'Tempo' article false and unfounded

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.