Refleksi: Allah ada pada sisinya? Rejeki nomplok bagi Pak Harto! http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/soeharto-wins-129m-in-damages-from-time/2007/09/10/1189276642061.html
Soeharto wins $129m in damages from Time September 11, 2007 JAKARTA: Indonesia's Supreme Court had awarded the former dictator Soeharto 1 trillion rupiah ($129.6 million ) in damages in a lawsuit he brought against Time magazine, a court official said yesterday. The decision is likely to spark outrage in Indonesia, where the ageing former president has avoided being brought to trial over persistent allegations of massive corruption during his 32 years of iron-fisted rule. "We accept the suit filed by Soeharto and refuse the decision of the Appeal Court and Central Jakarta District Court," a Supreme Court spokesman, Nurhadi, said, referring to rulings against Soeharto made in 2000 and 2001. The court, in its August 30 ruling, had ordered that Soeharto be paid 1 trillion rupiah in immaterial damages and that an apology be published in Indonesian newspapers as well as in three Time titles. Soeharto had been seeking more than $US27 billion ($32.7 billion) in the defamation suit filed against Time over a May 1999 article alleging he had stashed a massive amount of money abroad. Nurhadi said that the article was "considered inappropriate, far from decent and careless, so it is considered against the law on defamation, and against the honour of the plaintiff, who is a military general, retired, and former Indonesian president". "Based on those considerations, the plaintiff's civil suit and demands on immaterial damages are accepted in order to uphold justice." Under Indonesian law, the only legal avenue now open to Time would be to file a request for a judicial review, for which new evidence or a procedural dispute needs to be claimed. Before the ruling was confirmed, a lawyer for Time, Todung Mulya Lubis, told the afternoon newspaper Sinar Harapan that, if it was true, "it means they [the court] have taken a step backward". "What Time published was based on journalistic ethics. It was fair and covered both sides. It would be a step backward for the Indonesian press," he was quoted as saying. Soeharto has denied accumulating a fortune while in power. He described as "ridiculous" a Forbes magazine estimate after he stepped down that he was one of the world's richest men. Agence France-Presse [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
