Hutomo Mandala Putra, also known as Tommy Soeharto won in court. The youngest child of former President Soeharto won a lawsuit against management of Garuda magazine in the District Court of Central Jakarta. Chaired by Thasin, the panel of judeges in the legal proceeding on 24 May penalized Garuda, requiring it to pay Tommy Soeharto IDR 12,5 billion.
This case started when Tommy felt injured by a footnote in an article of Garuda Magazine’s December 2009 edition, and decided to sue related parties in civil court for committing a tortious act. The article, on page 30, was titled “A New Destination to Enjoy Bali”. It was supposed to describe a holiday destination in Pecatu, Bali.
However, a footnote stated: Tommy Soeharto is the owner of this area and he is a killer who has been sentenced by the court. That sentence caused the lawsuit.
The defendants in this case included six parties: the publisher of PT Indo Multi Media, PT Garuda Indonesia, the Garuda Magazine Editorial Board which was represented by Taufik Darusman, Editor Sari Widiati, a member of the Editorial Board who was also the Vice President of Corporate Communication at Garuda Indonesia Pujobroto, and also a member of the Editorial Board who was also responsible for Marketing Communication and Promotion at Garuda Indonesia Prasetyo Budi.
The panel decided that the defendants committed a tortious act. The panel thought that the footnote was made without any basis, with a harmful purpose and bad intent. “Titles and notes are relevant and can cause a negative perception,” Tahsin said. “And this crossed the line of the legal principles and also the principles of appropriateness, precision, and prudence in the community,” the panel said.
In their legal decision, the judges found that the footnote was irrelevant to the title and content of the article. Tommy’s status as a convict of a murder case was irrelevant to the content of the article. Tahsin said that the footnote’s meaning and purpose were unclear. As a result, it can be categorized as an ethical violation. Because of that, the judges panel thought that the act attacked someone else’s dignity, which violates Article 1365 of the Indonesian Civil Code.
Besides that, the action was also considered to be a violation of Article 1366 of the Indonesian Civil Code on negligence that causes a loss. It also violated Article 1367 Paragraph (3) of the Indonesian Civil Code on personal responsibility for the damages that result from a tortious act committed by a subordinate.
Besides being punished to pay a fine, the panel of judges ordered the defendants to publish a full page apology in three editions of Garuda magazine. The plaintiff’s application to demand the defendants to apologize in other media – Kompas, Bisnis Indonesia and Tempo – was rejected by the panel.
The legal attorney for Garuda, Eri Hertiawan, has not decided what action to take following the decision. In other words, Garuda wanted to think about it first. Eri said that he would discuss this matter with his client first. “Regarding the appeal I will discuss it first with my client. We will find out their opinion,” he said.
Eri thought, that several facts were not considered by the judges. For example, “The foreign translator has not been considered” he said. In fact, it was the translator, Ted Thornton, who wrote the note.
In the Court, defendants I, II, and III showed proof that the final draft of the article was clean. When it was forwarded to Ted, a controversial note showed up. “Warn Ted, because he sent an email apologizing to the publisher. At least there is that fact,” he said.
Tommy’s legal attorney, Ferry Firman Nurwahyu, accepted the decision, because it was in accordance with the claims. The panel of judges held that Tommy proved that the defendants committed a tort, and that the defendants violated Articles 1365 and 1367 of the Indonesian Civil Code. “The most important thing is that a tort has been proven, and there will be an apology, which means that part of our claims have been granted. That is enough for us,” he said.
Rofiq Hidayat / Meidi Hutagalung
Source from: Online Law
