Indonesia's supreme arbiter of right and wrong has ordered that $106m be paid by Time for defaming Suharto! HAHAHAHAHA
Time claimed that the Suharto family stole $73bn, the Indonesian supreme court commented:
"...the article has damaged the reputation and honour of the grand general of the Indonesian armed forces and former president of Indonesia"HAHAHAHA
I love those supreme court fuckers.
So is it a question of a figure? Would $40bn, $30bn, $20bn be more accurate non-defamatory figures?
(I wish I could come up with something more intelligent, but that judgment and article is satire enough.)
I wonder will Time now leave Indonesia? I wonder is this going to be the new face of repression - the ever-so-legalistic-Singapore-way - sue the hell out of those who raise their heads above the parapet. It's even better in Indonesia, cos the Supreme court will pretty much write a blank check - the court will cut themselves a fat commission in any case.
5 comments:
John however hillarious the case is, don't you find it interesting that in Indonesia using court is common as organising militias?
Imagine if Suharto was still in power, thug organisations would ransack their office and the next day there would be a formal apology published.
I find that the use of court by elites to settle dispute is intriguing for subject of study.
the case itself is a serious as cancer, but it's nothing new, every so often u just have to laugh at the bizarro-tragic-world of indonesia...
in a way i think this legalistic repression is worse that violent repression. legalistic repression doesn't pull in headlines and fuel indignation.
sites like the beeb don't say anything about how corrupt indonesian courts are - it's a very efficient, "respectable" way of shutting people up.
21st century repression, singapore's gift to the world!
I agree that legal oppression is more effective in some way.
It seems that elites in Indo found a new strategy to get away from public censure. Legal process is a better option than violence as they can pay a good lawyer and bribe the prosecutors.
As for presecutors, one respectable scholar in Australian National University contended that bribery shifted from judges to presecutors.
anyway, did you enjoy reading article that i sent before you went to Indo?
yes funny indeed, but also humiliating. guess this is another stepback for ind's press' democracy in writing the truth. i wonder why ind court changed their decision after declining the case before.
if they are brave enough to 'punish' an international magz such as time, what can they do to our domestic media?
this is just so unfair. the man is dying for crying out loud. noone is actually paying any attention anymore. yet he has been under endless trial regarng his corruption cases here, broadcasted in almost all media. and now, out of the blue, hes feeling defamed by time's article published years ago?
generally gobsmacking.
i do think that the press has contributed a lot in fighting corruption esp in this corrupt country. with this case now, i wonder what'll happen next.
"with this case now, i wonder what'll happen next."
yeh i agree with u totally, am not too optimistic somehow...
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