Court rejects Buddha Bar's lawsuit against tourism agency
Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 09/09/2009 1:29 PM
The Jakarta State Administrative Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by PT Nireta Visa Creative - the management of Buddha Bar - against the Jakarta Tourism Agency for advising that the controversial bar change its name, an activist said Tuesday.
The head of the Anti-Buddha Bar Forum, Kevin Wu, said the court had ruled in favor of the city administration Monday and not the management of the restaurant and bar.
"This means that the company should do what the city administration advised them to do and change the restaurant name and remove all Buddhist iconography from the venue," Kevin said.
Several Buddhists have expressed offense at the use of Buddha statues in a bar setting.
Kevin said the forum, as a representative of the public, defended the city administration in this legal dispute.
"In the state administrative court system there can be a party from outside the dispute who can intervene in the legal process. We have intervened on behalf of the city administration," he said.
The Buddha Bar filed a lawsuit against the city administration - which initially granted the restaurant its operating permit - after it asked the management to change the restaurant's name and theme and register the business under a new title.
Kevin said French Company George V Entertainment, who own the Buddha Bar franchise, also sued the Justice and Human Rights Ministry's Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights Protection (Ditjen HAKI) for revoking the restaurant's brand license in April.
Henry Marheroso, manager of the Buddha Bar, said that neither party won nor lost.
"Our lawsuit was rejected because the city administration sent us a letter advising us to do something, which harmed no party," he said.
The State Administrative Court is scheduled to announce their decision on the lawsuit against Ditjen HAKI next Monday.
The use of an historical public building to house the upscale Buddha Bar was also the subject of controversy, as the city administration funded the renovation of the building.
