Wiranto wins libel case against sociologist

Theresia Sufa and Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Bogor/Jakarta

Cibinong District Court found sociologist Tamrin Amal Tomagola and Jawa Pos daily guilty on Thursday in a libel case against former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto and three other high-ranking military officials.

In the hearing presided over by Judge Indah Sulistyowati, the court ordered Tamrin and the daily to pay Rp 50 million (US$5,549) to the litigants in compensation for immaterial losses.

It also asked them to make a public apology on the front page of five dailies for three days in a row and six television channels and cover all expenses resulting from the case which amounted to Rp 994,000.

The apology should read: "I Dr. Tamrin Amal Tomaloga apologize to Bapak Wiranto, Bapak Djaja Suparman, Bapak Suaidi Marassabesy, and Bapak Sudi Silalahi for circulating lies and slander to the public. I declare that Bapak Wiranto, Bapak Djaja Suparman, Bapak Suaidi Marassabesy, and Bapak Sudi Silalahi have never plotted sectarian conflict in Maluku, and Bapak Djaja Suparman has never threatened me", the verdict said.

The court also demanded that Jawa Pos drop the news, and announce the correction in Jawa Pos, Siwalima, Kompas, Suara Pembaruan, and Pos Kota.

The case evolved from an article in Maluku-base daily Siwalima published on page 3 of the Aug. 4, 2000 edition, which quoted Tamrin as saying that Wiranto, Lt. Gen. Djaja Suparman, Lt. Gen. Suadi Marassabesy, Maj. Gen. Sudi Silalahi had masterminded sectarian conflicts in the country. The news was taken from jawapos.com, the website of Surabaya-based Jawa Pos daily.

"The courage to file a lawsuit alone is exceptional for military personnel who always come under public criticism. I think this is the first time this has been done because in many cases, military personnel who are slandered are reluctant to file lawsuits," former Maluku military commander Suaidi said.

Tamrin, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, appealed the verdict.

His team of lawyers from Jakarta Legal Aid Institute said the judges had misinterpreted the facts and the legal aspects by using secondary witnesses who obtained information from Siwalima.

The jawapos.com online has never been part of evidence during the trial, while Jawa Pos daily has denied that such an article was ever published.

Tamrin told The Jakarta Post later in the day that he would prepare evidence to show the military's involvement in the three years of sectarian conflict in Maluku.

He said the judges had only used the witness' statements partially and missed the context in a bid to build arguments to prove he was guilty.

Tamrin said that he was suspicious about a late intervention of a third party in the trial. He said he saw a BMW with registration number B 666 BS before the trial began. The registration number BS is commonly used by top ranking officials or ministers.

"The trial started at 12:15 p.m., more than two hours late due to an internal meeting of judges. Part of the verdict was written by hand, so that one of the judges asked another judge to read it. This means there were some changes made at the last minute. All the statements in the verdict should have been typed because it had been prepared days before," he said.

Press Council chairman Atmakusumah told the Post that the press should keep its pride in the eyes of the public by not easily giving in due to complaints.

"If the press are willing to publish an apology for several days in various media every time someone is offended, it will have no respect and pride anymore in the public's eyes. It should be proud and show its professionalism by keeping on fighting for press freedom," he said.

He, however, reminded the press to always cover both sides in writing stories and give objective arguments so that reports would have a legal basis.

"Many public figures in this country are not ready to hear unpleasant news. They are not satisfied until they take legal action because they only consider their reputation. Actually, the solution is simple, just use your the right to clarify if you feel offended or slandered," he said.