Bintang wants new chief prosecutor<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Dissident politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas,
\nunder investigation for allegedly disseminating antigovernment
\nmessages, fought back from his cell at the Attorney General's
\nOffice yesterday by demanding an investigating prosecutor be
\ndismissed.<\/p>\n
Bintang's lawyer, Bambang Widjojanto, said Bintang wanted the
\nhead of the Attorney General's investigating team, Mulyono,
\nreplaced because he \"had been involved in a recent case of
\nalleged collusion and corruption in the Attorney General's
\nOffice\".<\/p>\n
Bintang had sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General for
\nSpecial Crimes Ismudjoko demanding that Mulyono be replaced,
\naccording to Bambang.<\/p>\n
Bintang has also declared that, as a (self-proclaimed)
\npresidential candidate, he refused to be questioned by a
\nprosecutor he alleged was involved in \"something dishonorable.\"<\/p>\n
Last year, Bintang established the Indonesian Democratic Union
\nParty (PUDI), which the government has refused to recognize, and
\nannounced his intention to run for the presidency next year. He
\nnamed PUDI activist Julius Usman as his vice presidential
\nnominee.<\/p>\n
The dishonorable act he referred to was the alleged swindling
\nat the privately run Bapindo of interest worth billions of rupiah
\nfrom the confiscated properties of the notorious jailbird Eddy
\nTansil.<\/p>\n
The latest edition of Forum Keadilan magazine reported that
\nthe scam allegedly involved a number of officials at the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office, including former Deputy Attorney General for
\nSpecial Crimes Yunan Sawidji, whom Ismudjoko replaced on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n
Bintang, a former United Development Party legislator, was
\narrested last Wednesday on charges of subversion. He, Julius, and
\nanother PUDI executive Saleh Abdullah, have been detained and are
\ncurrently being questioned about the party's allegedly subversive
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
One of the activities the government found offensive was the
\nsending of Idul Fitri greeting cards including the PUDI agenda:
\nnamely to boycott the 1997 election, to reject President
\nSoeharto's renomination for another term of office, and to
\nprepare for a post-Soeharto era after 1998. The cards were sent
\nto many officials, including Vice President Try Sutrisno.<\/p>\n
According to Bambang, his client refused to answer questions
\nposed by the three-member prosecution team and demanded that the
\n\"substance\" of the case being built be explained to him first.<\/p>\n
\"Bintang insists that unless his demands, supposedly his
\nrights guaranteed by law, be properly addressed by the
\nprosecutors, he will not answer any questions directed at him,\"
\nBambang said. He referred to Article 51 of the Criminal Code
\nProcedures which stipulates that investigators must explain
\nclearly to a person the charges being built against him or her.<\/p>\n
In earlier questioning sessions Bintang had demanded that the
\ninvestigators explain the legal grounds of his arrest; such as
\nthe crime he was being charged with, what had incriminated him,
\nand how that related to the law he was being charged with.<\/p>\n
He demanded that the investigating prosecutors produce a copy
\nof letters of complaint from those who were supposedly irritated
\nby his party's activities, reveal who had reported him to the
\nauthorities, who he had allegedly offended, and what suffering
\nhis party had inflicted on the offended people.<\/p>\n
\"Bintang was asked 23 questions today, but he refused to
\nanswer the last four questions,\" Bambang said. One of those was
\nwhether Bintang needed a lawyer.<\/p>\n
According to Bambang, Bintang refused to continue with the
\nquestioning when the investigators tried to elicit his statements
\non PUDI, its activities and programs, and its controversial Idul
\nFitri cards.<\/p>\n
A political analyst from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta,
\nRiswandha Imawan, said that by sending the cards, Bintang had
\nmade himself a martyr and a symbol for a new social movement.
\n(aan\/har)<\/p>",
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