Indonesian president sue ex-house leader for slander

Accompanied by his wife, Kristiani, and several presidential security guards, Yudhoyono personally on Sunday filed the lawsuit against Zaenal Ma'arif to the Jakarta city police headquarters, The Jakarta Post reported.

Ma'arif, who was recently fired as a deputy House speaker, has publicly claimed recently that he had evidence Yudhoyono was married to another woman before entering the Military Academy in the 1970s  or while a cadet at the academy and that the pair had two children.

In Indonesia, home to the world's most Muslim populous nation, polygamy is illegal for civil servants.

Yudhoyono strongly denied the claim, saying over the weekend that he was upset and accusing Ma'arif of tarnishing his "dignity, good name and pride." 

"I'm exercising my legal right to file a lawsuit, in order to ensure supremacy of law in this country," Yudhoyono was quoted as saying after filing the lawsuit. "I want this to be a lesson to all victims of slander or false reports, and they should use correct channels to solve their case," he added. 

Jakarta Police Major General Adang Firman said Yudhoyono's complaint would be processed soon, adding that in line with the existing Indonesian laws, if found guilty of defamation, Ma'arif could face a maximum sentence of nine-months in prison. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/DPA)