PEMBREIDELAN buku mungkin "biasa" saja di negeri ini. Namun, nun jauh di sana, hal itu masalah serius. Saya terkejut karena kemelut seputar "Buloggate" sempat mencuri perhatian Agence France Presse. Di dalam negeri, Kompas memberitakan beberapa kali. Satu atau berita --seingat saya-- menjadi headline halaman dalam.
Berita AFP tersebut saya kutip dari situs Pacific Media Watch yang bermarkas di Australia (http://www.asiapac.org.fj/cafepacific/resources/aspac/indon3716.html), yang dipublikasikan pada 3 Agustus 2002. AFP memberitakan dengan judul "Book on Indonesian Speaker's Graft Case Withdrawn -- Lawyer". Di bawah ini berita lengkapnya.
JAKARTA: A book detailing the alleged role of Indonesian parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tanjung in a four-million-dollar corruption scandal has been withdrawn from sale by its publisher, Tanjung's lawyer said Thursday.
Lawyer Amir Syamsuddin said the withdrawal of the book entitled Abdurrahmangate, Akbargate, Megaskandal started on Tuesday after Tanjung's legal team filed a complaint to the publisher and authors on July 15.
The complaint was based on "the fact that they had used Mr Tanjung's picture as the book's cover without consent," Syamsuddin told AFP.
"We have no problem with the content of the book, however the use of my client's picture is the real issue of our complaint," Syamsuddin said, adding he had received a formal apology from the publisher and authors.
Tanjung and two others are accused of misusing 40 billion rupiah (4.4 million dollars) in funds from the state food agency Bulog which were allocated to feed the poor in 1999.
Prosecutors at his trial on Wednesday demanded he serve a four-year jail term. Judges have not yet reached a verdict and Tanjung insists he is innocent.
The book publisher could not be reached for comment. Co-author Mad Ridwan, quoted by Thursday's Kompas newspaper, said they obtained the photo from the state news agency Antara and had been given permission to use it.
He also said the media had the right to publish Tanjung's photo without his consent since he is a public figure.*
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