Questioning over July 27 riots continues<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The authorities continued their questioning
\nyesterday of Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of a small leftist
\ngroup accused of subversion, and announced a fresh round of
\nquestioning of witnesses.<\/p>\n
Deposed chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri is to be questioned again on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad, government critic Ali
\nSadikin and Catholic priest Father Ismartono of the Indonesian
\nBishop's Conference have all been summoned for questioning on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Ismartono chairs the interfaith relations department at the
\nIndonesian Bishop's Conference; Goenawan heads the unrecognized
\nIndependent Election Monitoring Committee, while Ali Sadikin is a
\nleader of the Petisi 50 group of government critics. They will be
\nquestioned as witnesses in the cases against labor activist
\nMuchtar Pakpahan and Budiman.<\/p>\n
Both Muchtar and Budiman, who heads the Democratic People's
\nParty, have been accused of inciting the July 27 riots which
\nerupted after the storming of the PDI headquarters -- then
\noccupied by Megawati loyalists -- by supporters of new chairman
\nSoerjadi.<\/p>\n
Soeryadi is also to be questioned again on Wednesday,
\naccording to the spokesman of the Attorney General Office, Pontas
\nPasaribu. The office has also sent a second summons to Bambang
\nWidjojanto, the executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nInstitute.<\/p>\n
Bambang refused to answer the first summons, saying that he
\ncould not be questioned as a witness against Budiman, who had
\nalready solicited his legal help.<\/p>\n
The questioning of Budiman by officers at the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office lasted for six hours yesterday. His lawyer
\nJohnson Panjaitan said that 26 questions were put to Budiman.<\/p>\n
At the City Police headquarters, officers began their
\nquestioning of Benny Sumardi, the brother of Father Ignatius
\nSandyawan Sumardi S.J., a Catholic priest accused of protecting
\nBudiman and his friends when they were being hunted by the
\nauthorities. Sandyawan gave the fugitives shelter at Benny's
\nhouse in Bekasi, a suburb east of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Pontas said journalists are now allowed to interview and take
\npictures of those being questioned at the Attorney General's
\nOffice.<\/p>\n
Detainees<\/p>\n
Separately, the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors' Office
\nreleased five PDI supporters from the Salemba detention center in
\nCentral Jakarta yesterday. They were among the 124 Megawati
\nsupporters arrested following the party headquarters' takeover on
\nJuly 27.<\/p>\n
Prior to being detained at Salemba, they were held at the City
\nPolice detention center.<\/p>\n
Munir from the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation,
\nwhich is coordinating a team of more than 60 lawyers representing
\nthe detainees, said that none of the lawyers asked for the five
\ndetainees to be released.<\/p>\n
However, he said that he asked for the release of five women
\nand an 18-year-old man from the Pondok Bambu detention center.
\n\"They are in a weak condition. One of the women, Nurhayati, is
\nthree months pregnant,\" Munir said.<\/p>\n
Munir's colleague, Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, said that the
\ndetainees could demand compensation from the government for the
\nhardships they experienced during detention. (16)<\/p>",
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