M. Taufiqurrahman and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Marked by the presence of hundreds of people alleged to be those taking part in storming the weekly's office, the trial of the Tempo attack began on Wednesday at the Central Jakarta District Court, with prosecutors accusing the defendants of only committing a minor offense.
The defendants David Tjioe, alias A Miauw, and Hidayat Lukman alias Teddy Uban, minions of tycoon Tomy Winata were both indicted for violating Article 335 of the Criminal Code on encouraging others to perpetrate acts of violence, which carries a maximum punishment of one year in prison.
The first indictment for David, read by chief prosecutor, Ramdhanu Dwiyantoro, said that the defendants committed an act of violence against Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, who declined to reveal the source of an article which he said harmed the business interests of Tomy Winata. As for Teddy Uban who was tried separately, prosecutor M. Manik said that the defendant verbally and physically harassed journalist Achmad Taufik. He was accused of violating the same article.
Teddy and David – who were placed under city arrest from April 1 to April 20 – were among a group of people who stormed the weekly's office in early March, demanding a retraction of article insinuating that Artha Graha Group's Tomy Winata was responsible for a fire that devastated the Tanah Abang market in mid-February.
The indictment, however, made no mention of three other people – Yosef, Septi and Abdul Haris Sumbi – who had previously been named as suspects. Police earlier said that dossiers for the three had to be completed before they could be brought to court, but sources revealed that they would be presented merely as witnesses.
Prosecutors, in the indictment, only stated four names – David, Haris, Habib Hamid and Guntur – without any clarification regarding their status in the case.
After prosecutors read the indictment, presiding judge Sunaryo concluded the hearing, announcing that a follow-up hearing was scheduled for April 22.
Farhat Abbas, one of the defendants' lawyers, said that considering that his clients were indicted only for a minor offense, the advocates would not submit a defense statement and would instead submit a plea. He, however, played down the possibility of presenting Tomy as a witness in the next hearing.
In the course of the hearing, hundreds of people alleged to be the security guards of Tomy were seen inside the court building. They were easily recognizable from their uniforms.
Separately, as many as 30 people under the organization Solidarity for Press Freedom visited the Jakarta Police Headquarters in a bid to complain to the police for not charging David and Teddy, the alleged attackers of Tempo under Law No. 40/199 on the media. Under the law, persons can be charged for obstructing journalists from reporting.
Among the protesters were Leo Batubara, the chairman of SPS print media publisher group, senior journalist Fikri Jufri and noted economist Faisal Basri.
The protesters met police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Prasetyo as Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara was not available. "Why didn't the police charge them under the law?" said Bimo Nugroho, one of the protesters.
Bimo also questioned the police's move to name Bambang Harymurti and Ahmad Taufik as suspects in a defamation suit filed by Tomy. The protesters warned that the police's move may threaten press freedom in the country.