Tomy sues 'Tempo' for Rp 120b

Tomy sues 'Tempo' for Rp 120b

JAKARTA: Businessman Tomy Winata filed on Thursday his lawsuit
over alleged libel against Tempo journalist Ahmad Taufik and
media company PT Tempo Inti Media, demanding a total of Rp 120
billion (US$14.6 million) in compensation.

Tomy's legal team filed the civil lawsuit at the Central
Jakarta District Court. The lawsuit is based on Taufik's
statement on the chronology of the attack on Tempo's office and
journalists, which took place on March 8. Taufik closed his
statement by saying that Tomy owned entertainment spots and
gambling dens.

The statement was widely distributed over the Internet and was
run by news portal Detikcom on March 12.

Tomy's legal team said that the statement had inflicted losses
on their client as many of Tomy's partners had canceled their
business deals with him.

The lawyers demanded that Taufik and PT Tempo pay Rp 40
billion in compensation for material losses and an additional Rp
80 billion in nonmaterial losses. They also asked that the court
confiscate PT Tempo's and printing company PT Temprint's assets
as collateral.

Finally, they demanded that Taufik publish an apology to Tomy
in a number of dailies and weeklies for three consecutive days
and to air the apology on all television stations for seven days.
-- JP