Indonesia's Suharto wins suit against Time magazine

JAKARTA, Sep 10 (Reuters) 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 over 100 million dollars in damages and print an apology, a court spokesman said today.

Time magazine's May 1999 cover story ''Suharto Inc'' alleged Suharto and his family had amassed a fortune of around 15 billion dollars, including 9 billion dollars in an Austrian bank account.

Suharto first filed a lawsuit against Time in 1999, seeking 183 trillion rupiah in damages -- equivalent to 19.5 billion dollars 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. It is common for court cases to drag on for years in Indonesia.

Supreme court spokesman Nurhadi told reporters that on August 30, a panel of judges decided to order the magazine, along with six other defendants including an editor and reporters, to pay 107 million dollars 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.

The Supreme Court ''found the article has damaged the reputation and honour of the grand general of the Indonesian armed forces and former president of Indonesia,'' Nurhadi said.

''The lower level courts have wrongly applied the law, therefore their decisions have been annulled.'' Time magazine representatives could not be reached for comment. A lawyer who has represented the magazine in the case could also not be reached.

Under Indonesian law, Time magazine lawyers could file for a case review, which requires new evidence to be submitted.

Suharto, 86, resigned in 1998 after 32 years in power. Critics say that he and his family amassed billions during his rule, but the former president and members of his family have denied any wrongdoing.

Earlier this month, Indonesia's state prosecutors failed to reach an out-of-court settlement in a 1.5 billion dollars lawsuit against Suharto as part of efforts to recover state funds allegedly misused by Suharto's charitable foundations.

REUTERS GL RAI1852