TV personality Dewi Sukarno fined over assaults on ex-employees

TOKYO – The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday fined television personality Dewi Sukarno, known in Japan as Madame Dewi, ¥200,000 ($1,260) for assaulting two of her former employees in Tokyo.

Judge Toshikazu Ishida said that Sukarno, the third wife of Indonesia’s first president, committed “dangerous and violent” acts.

Television personality Dewi Sukarno, known in Japan as Madame Dewi, was fined ¥200,000 ($1,260) for assaulting two women in Tokyo. | JIJI

According to the court’s ruling, Sukarno in February last year threw a glass and a wet towel at her then-secretary at a restaurant in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward. In October the same year, she punched and kicked her then-manager at an animal hospital in the same ward.

“Her loss of temper triggered by a disagreement on the use of dogs for meat was impulsive,” Ishida said. “It cannot be justified even if she was emotionally unstable following the death of her pet dog.”

The court concluded that the 86-year-old defendant’s testimony that she did not throw a champagne glass “lacks credibility,” considering the situation at the site.

During past court hearings, Sukarno denied part of the charges against her while saying that she would be careful because of her short temper.