Police question author of `Primadosa' again<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police investigators questioned the author of
\nthe banned book, Primadosa (Prime Sins), Wimanjaya K. Liotohe,
\n60, who is charged with insulting President Soeharto, again
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"During this second interrogation, I was asked by
\ninvestigators to identify parties who had helped me complete my
\nwork,\" Wimanjaya told reporters after the four-hour interrogation
\nsession at the building housing the Crime Investigation
\nDirectorate at City Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
Wimanjaya was accompanied by two lawyers from Alamsyah
\nHanafiah SH & Associates.<\/p>\n
\"So far, the questioning has yet to deal with the main subject
\nof the case. The questions asked during the sessions are still
\nabout general issues,\" Alamsyah told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Wimajaya was interrogated for the first time on Wednesday last
\nweek.<\/p>\n
\"It was about my identity and my background. They also asked
\nme about the backgrounds of my wife and children but I refused to
\ntell them,\" Wimajaya said.<\/p>\n
The interrogation is scheduled to continue next Thursday.<\/p>\n
A police warrant issued on April 6 states that the author will
\nbe charged on the basis of Article 134 and 137 of the existing
\nCriminal Code for insulting President Soeharto in January, when
\nWimanjaya released the first segments of his three-volume work.<\/p>\n
Article 134 states that people found guilty of intentionally
\ninsulting the president or vice president may face imprisonment
\nof up to six years or a maximum fine of Rp 4,500 (US$2.09).<\/p>\n
Under Article 137, people found guilty of publishing a book or
\npicture insulting the president or vice president face a maximum
\nprison term of one year and four months or maximum fine of Rp
\n4,500.<\/p>\n
Not a book<\/p>\n
According to Wimanjaya, Primadosa, which was banned by the
\nAttorney General's Office in January, was not intended to be
\npublished as a book. He says its contents are from a lawsuit he
\nfiled against President Soeharto, whom he accuses of
\nmasterminding an attempt to overthrow president Sukarno in 1965.<\/p>\n
The coup by the Indonesian Communist Party was put down by
\ntroops led by Soeharto, who was a young Army general at the time.
\nSoeharto later rose to power and the party was banned.<\/p>\n
Primadosa triggered a barrage of protests from the public
\nagainst the author within several weeks of its release,
\nindicating that copies or reprints of it were circulating widely.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto drew public attention to the work when he
\ndisclosed its existence during a meeting with high-ranking Navy
\nofficers at his Tapos ranch in West Java on Jan. 23.<\/p>\n
He said that the contents of the book were a personal attack
\nagainst him but stressed that he took it as a challenge.<\/p>\n
In his lawsuit filed at the Jakarta administrative court,
\nWimanjaya wanted the President and the attorney general to pay
\ncompensation of Rp 100 trillion ($46.55 billion) to him and all
\nof the Indonesian people for moral and material losses.<\/p>\n
Wimajaya has also said he plans to file another lawsuit
\nagainst the high-ranking officials who recently labeled him
\n\"crazy.\" (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-question-author-of-primadosa-again-1447899208",
"image": ""
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