Court postpones handing Tempo-Asian Agri defamation dispute verdict

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 08/25/2008 4:51 PM  |  National

The Central Jakarta District Court on Monday failed to hand down its verdict on a lawsuit brought by agribusiness firm PT Asian Agri against Tempo magazine for defamation.

"We are adjourning the trial until Sept. 4," said head judge Panusunan Harahap, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

Asian Agri is suing Tempo over an article about the company's alleged tax avoidance measures by transfering profits overseas, in the magazine's January 15-21, 2007, edition.

The company demanded Tempo pay Rp 500 million (US$55,000) and Rp 5 billion in material and immaterial restitutions.

Tempo chief editor Toriq Hadad said he respected the court's decision to adjourn the trial.

"We expect the panel of judges will hand down a fair verdict," he said.

During the trial, the Corruption Eradication Commission's legal bureau head, Khaidir Ramli, testified that Asian Agri manipulated its taxes.

Ramli also said Asian Agri was the target of the anti-graft body probe for alleged tax embezzlement before a news magazine ran the case as its headline story. (dre)

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