Bintang dismisses taped evidence<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Sri Bintang Pamungkas denied it was his voice on
\na recording used by prosecutors to prove that he had insulted
\nPresident Soeharto during a lecture he gave at a German
\nuniversity last April.<\/p>\n
\"I deny making any of the recorded statements. The speaker's
\nvoice resembles mine but it is not mine,\" the controversial
\npolitician told the judges during a hearing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court heard testimony from
\nBintang, who is accused by government prosecutors of calling
\nPresident Soeharto, and his predecessor Sukarno, dictators and
\nviolators of the 1945 Constitution. Bintang allegedly made the
\nremarks during a seminar at the Technische Universitaet in
\nBerlin.<\/p>\n
\"With current technology, it's possible to manipulate the
\ncontent and quality of a tape recording,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The government prosecutors did not play the recording during
\nyesterday's session. However, previous witnesses, including the
\nseminar's organizers, have either testified that Bintang did not
\nmake the remarks or that they could not recognize the voice in
\nthe recording as Bintang's.<\/p>\n
\"How can we say that it is Bintang's voice if the recording
\ncannot even be heard clearly,\" one of the witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Bintang and his lawyers have, from the outset, rejected the
\nuse of the recording as evidence. \"The practice is not accepted
\nin our court system,\" one of the lawyers said.<\/p>\n
The lawyers yesterday told the prosecutors that the dossiers
\non Bintang contained flaws.<\/p>\n
\"The prosecutors have accused our client of defaming President
\nSoeharto during the seminar,\" said Adnan Buyung Nasution, one of
\nthe lawyers. \"Then how come the dossiers also include the police
\ninvestigators' summary of inquiries on several witnesses over a
\nseries of demonstration, which occurred at almost the same time
\nas the President's visit to Germany?\"<\/p>\n
Buyung brought up the question after the presiding judge,
\nSyoffinan Sumantri, interrupted him while he was questioning
\nBintang over his alleged role in the demonstrations. The judge
\nsaid Buyung's line of questioning was not relevant and told him
\nto focus on the seminar.<\/p>\n
R. Dwiyanto Prihartono, another of Bintang's lawyers, told The
\nJakarta Post that more than 50 percent of the dossiers submitted
\nby the prosecutors were about the demonstrations.<\/p>\n
The trial was adjourned until next Wednesday, when two key
\nwitnesses, Sri Basuki and Sunarto, are scheduled to testify in
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
The two people were among the many bright Indonesian bright
\nstudents sent to study abroad in the 1960s by then president
\nSukarno as part of his massive campaign to redress the country's
\nunderdevelopment. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bintang-dismisses-taped-evidence-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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