INDONESIA:Indonesia's supreme court has ruled in favour of former president Suharto in a libel suit against Time magazine, ordering the US weekly to pay more than $100 million (€72 million) in damages and print an apology, a court spokesman said yesterday.
Time magazine's May 1999 cover story, "Suharto Inc", alleged Suharto and his family had amassed a fortune of about $15 billion, including $9 billion in an Austrian bank account.
Suharto first filed a lawsuit against Time in 1999, seeking 183 trillion rupiah in damages - equivalent to €14 billion at the current exchange rate.
The case was thrown out by the Jakarta district court in June 2000. Suharto then lodged an appeal with a higher court, which was turned down in March 2001.
Supreme court spokesman Nurhadi told reporters that on August 30th, a panel of judges decided to order the magazine, along with six other defendants including an editor and reporters, to pay 1 trillion rupiah (€77 million) in damages.
Time, owned by Time Warner Inc, was also ordered to publish a public apology in its various editions as well as in a selection of local newspapers and magazines.
Time magazine representatives could not be reached for comment.