Govt defends Bintang's arrest<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government defended in court yesterday the
\narrest of rebel politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas as complying
\nwith the Criminal Code Procedures.<\/p>\n
In a pretrial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court,
\nlawyers for the Attorney General's Office presented various
\ndocuments such as arrest and detention warrants.<\/p>\n
They also brought evidence in support of the arrest, including
\na letter from the Jakarta High Prosecutors' Office on the
\nestablishment of the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI),
\nand the party's tabloid.<\/p>\n
Bintang, through his lawyers, has filed a pretrial motion with
\nthe court challenging the way he was arrested.<\/p>\n
On March 5, Bintang and two other PUDI co-founders, Julius
\nUsman and Saleh Abdullah, were invited for lunch at a South
\nJakarta restaurant by the attorney general's intelligent chief
\nGatot Hendrarto to discuss the party's activities.<\/p>\n
They were arrested after the lunch.<\/p>\n
Bintang's lawyers have described the arrest as a \"set up\" and
\nsaid it violated the Criminal Code Procedures.<\/p>\n
Bintang, Julius and Saleh have been charged under the 1963
\nsubversion law for PUDI activities, including sending Idul Fitri
\ncards in which they called for a boycott of the May election and
\na rejection of President Soeharto's reelection in 1998.<\/p>\n
Julius and Saleh were released Thursday, although the charges
\nagainst them have not been dropped.<\/p>\n
Judge Soedadi rejected a request by Bintang lawyers to call
\nfor witnesses. The hearing was adjourned until Monday when the
\njudge is expected to make his decision.<\/p>\n
The hearing was delayed when Judge Soedadi objected to the
\npresence of Bambang Widjojanto of the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nFoundation among Bintang's team of lawyers, after he learned that
\nBambang's license as a lawyer had expired in January.<\/p>\n
The judge later agreed to let Bambang sit on the lawyers'
\nbench but said that he could not speak in the hearing. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-defends-bintangs-arrest-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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