Aceh defendant wants Gus Dur to testify

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): A defendant charged with spreading antistate propaganda demanded on Tuesday that the Banda Aceh District Court call President Abdurrahman Wahid as a witness in the trial over his alleged role in organizing a mass rally calling for an independence referendum last August.

Muhammad Nazar, the detained chief of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), had earlier objected to the calling of three police officers as witnesses in the case.

"The three police officers are not government representatives. The one who should be called as a witness is the President himself," said Nazar, who appeared in court wearing a cap and a T-shirt emblazoned with the word "referendum".

The trial was marred by Nazar's being removed from the courtroom after protesting against the presence of the three police witnesses.

Presiding judge Farida Hanoum, however, rejected Nazar's demand.

"In respect of charges of spreading antistate propaganda, everyone has the right to act as a witness and give testimony," Farida said as quoted by Antara.

She added that the police witnesses were directly involved in the case while the President was not.

The trial continued despite Nazar's protest.

As with the two previous sessions, Tuesday's hearing was held under tight security.

Brig. Maimun, Brig. T Khairul Waddin and Brig. Khairul testified before the court on the seized banners being used as evidence in the case.

The banners, which Nazar allegedly distributed on Aug. 17, Indonesia's independence day, bore slogans such as "Aceh remains within the Republic of Indonesia, or becomes Free" and "We are not Indonesians."

"We confiscated the banners from the Simpang Lima traffic circle during the rally demanding a referendum last year," one of the officers said.

The court also heard testimony from an expert witness, linguist Abdul Djunaidi from Banda Aceh's Syah Kuala University, regarding the language used in the slogans and its interpretation.

Nazar is being charged under Articles 154 and 155 of the Criminal Code on antistate propaganda, which carry a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.

Nazar was arrested on Nov. 20, 2000 after organizing a mass rally in the region in August calling for an independence referendum for the province.

"We had to protest as the prosecution failed to present proper witnesses," defense counsel Johnson Panjaitan said.

The hearing ended around 1 p.m. and judge Farida adjourned the trial until Wednesday when the testimony of other witnesses will be heard. (edt)