Wiranto refiles lawsuit against Tomagola

Wiranto refiles lawsuit against Tomagola

BOGOR: After being rejected by the Cibinong District Court last
November, former Indonesian Military commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto
has refiled a libel suit against Thamrin Amal Tomagola, a
sociologist at the University of Indonesia.

Wiranto and other three generals -- Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman,
Lt. Gen. Suadi Marasabesy and Maj. Gen. Sudi Silalahi also
refiled their libel suit against Jawa Pos and Siwa Lima dailies,
which published Thamrin's statements that the four generals had a
hand in creating the prolonged Maluku conflict.

In the previous libel suit, the four generals did not name the
newspapers as the defendants.

The claims in the libel suit are still the same, namely the
generals are accusing Thamrin of discrediting them during a
speech before members of the U.S. Congress and representatives of
non-governmental organizations in August 2000.

The two dailies quoted Thamrin as saying that the generals
were the provocateurs and masterminds behind the prolonged
communal clashes in Ambon, Maluku.--JP