Time Magazine Appeals Ruling That It Libeled Suharto

Time Magazine filed an appeal Thursday in Indonesia of a court ruling awarding former President Suharto more than $100 million in damages over an article about what the United Nations calls one of the most gargantuan thefts of our time.

Ruling last August, the court said that Time had libeled Mr. Suharto by reporting that he and his family had amassed a fortune of least $15 billion in money and assets stolen from the country he governed.

“If it stands, the decision will threaten press freedom and erode the strength of democratic institutions in Indonesia,” the magazine said Thursday.