'Wanita Indonesia' sued by ex-reporters

'Wanita Indonesia' sued by ex-reporters

JAKARTA (JP): Seven former journalists of Wanita Indonesia
tabloid have filed a lawsuit against the publication at the East
Jakarta District Court for keeping their names in the masthead
after their dismissal.

The plaintiffs asked the court to order PT Citra Media
Persada, the tabloid's publisher owned by former president
Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardijanti Rukmana, and
the company's business manager, M. Djaelani, to pay Rp 418
million (US$38,000) in compensation.

The plaintiffs' lawyer, Asmaun Abas, said his clients were
dismissed last month but that their names had still been on the
tabloid's masthead in its Sept. 13 edition.

"My clients are facing difficulty finding new jobs because
their names are still listed in the masthead," Asmaun said.

He said the seven plaintiffs -- Djumriati, Syahnizar, Eryda
Silitonga, Devi Rinjani, Adri Budiarto, Musri Lukistriningrum and
Eni Kusumawati -- were asking the company to pay them wages worth
Rp 9.8 million for September since they had been listed as
reporters there.

The publisher provided the reporters a total of Rp 135 million
in severence pay on Sept. 4, he said.

PT Citra Media's human resources and personnel manager Nandang
refused to comment on the lawsuit.

Djumriati said he and his colleagues had been forced to resign
because they once questioned the company's management over an
unpaid bill of Rp 1 billion.

"We were dismissed because we were being too critical of the
company," she said.

The company dismissed a total of 14 employees last month, she
said, adding that another 20 employees had been let go
previously.

She said that the company had claimed the dismissals were part
of its efforts to improve efficiency.

However, the company announced in a newspaper recently that it
was searching for new employees, including journalists, she said.
(jun)