Megawati to get second summons<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, will appear before the
\npolice investigating the recent riots once an amended summons has
\nbeen issued, one of her lawyers said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"The police will issue a second summons soon after they
\ncorrect the old one. Nobody can refuse a police summons and
\nMegawati will gladly and happily meet the summons,\" Luhut M.P.
\nPangaribuan from the Legal Aid Institute told reporters.<\/p>\n
Megawati's seven-member legal team met police investigators
\nfor two hours at the Jakarta city police headquarters in response
\nto a summons received by Megawati on Friday. The summons was
\nissued in connection with the riots in Jakarta on July 27.<\/p>\n
The lawyers were received by Lt. Col. Kamaluddin Lubis and
\nCapt. Tugino of the City Police Investigation Department.<\/p>\n
R.O. Tambunan, who led the legal team, said that Megawati had
\nnot appeared personally because the summons contained several
\nflaws. He said it was unclear on who she would be expected to
\ntestify against, and there was no accompanying letter from
\nPresident Soeharto endorsing the police request for her to answer
\nquestions.<\/p>\n
Under Indonesian law, the police must have authorization from
\nthe President to question a member of the House of
\nRepresentatives. Megawati is a House member for the PDI and a
\nmember of the People's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
There have been reports that Soeharto has given his assent to
\nthe summons, but Megawati's lawyers said this was not reflected
\nin the police document.<\/p>\n
Tambunan said that Megawati had received the summons on
\nFriday. Although she legally had three days to respond to the
\nsummons, the police had only given her two days notice for
\nquestioning.<\/p>\n
Pangaribuan said it was unclear when the police would issue
\nthe second summons.<\/p>\n
A copy of the summons for Megawati, which was made available
\nto The Jakarta Post, said that she was to be questioned in
\nconnection with crimes committed between June 17 and July 28 this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
The crimes were related to the \"free speech\" forums which were
\nheld daily after Megawati was ousted by her PDI rival Soerjadi in
\na government-backed rebel congress. The forums at the party's
\nheadquarters drew huge enthusiastic crowds.<\/p>\n
The government has accused Megawati supporters of using the
\nfree speech forums as a platform for anti-government propaganda.<\/p>\n
Megawati has filed a lawsuit against the rebel congress
\ncommittee, the new PDI central board and the government and the
\nmilitary for backing and facilitating the congress.<\/p>\n
Tambunan said yesterday that the legal team also represented
\nAberson Marle Sihaloho, another PDI legislator, for similar
\npolice questioning.<\/p>\n
City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna confirmed
\nyesterday that the police would soon summon Megawati again.<\/p>\n
\"It is a common police investigation procedure. We'll give her
\nthree times to attend to our summons,\" Iman told reporters
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Asked if the police would force Megawati to appear if she
\nrefused to do so, Iman said: \"Let's just wait and see.\"<\/p>\n
Iman explained that Megawati was wanted for questioning \"as an
\nindividual\", not in her capacity as a member of the House of
\nRepresentatives or as the chairperson of PDI.<\/p>\n
He said that Megawati was to be questioned as a witness, not
\nas a suspect. \"We want to check her statements against the
\ntestimony of several people, currently under police
\ninterrogation, who claim to be her loyalists,\" Iman said.<\/p>\n
\"We need her to testify as a witness, not as a suspect,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Iman said the police investigators would also question the new
\nPDI chairman Soerjadi. (imn\/bsr)<\/p>\n
Parents -- Page 2<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/megawati-to-get-second-summons-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }