Bintang a suspect in German protests

Bintang a suspect in German protests

JAKARTA (JP): Controversial member of the House of
Representatives Sri Bintang Pamungkas has been formally named as
a suspect in the police investigation into anti-government
protests in Germany last month, Attorney General Singgih said
yesterday.

Singgih told reporters that the fact that Bintang had now been
implicated in a criminal case was sufficient reason for the
government to bar him from leaving the country.

Bintang's change of status from witness to suspect follows two
questioning sessions with police last month. The legislator was
in Germany at the same time that demonstrations against Indonesia
were held during a visit by President Soeharto to that country.

The suggestion that a number of Indonesians took part in the
demonstrations stirred anger among officials and politicians
here, with Soeharto calling such people "irrational", while
others called them "traitors".

Bintang was told this week that he could not leave the country
because of the investigation. He said on Monday that he wanted to
go to the United States to attend the graduation ceremony of his
daughter later this month.

Bintang has denied taking part in the demonstrations, saying
that he was merely an onlooker at the protest in Hannover. He
said that he was in Germany for a series of speaking engagements.

The chief spokesman for the National Police, Brig. Gen. I
Ketut Ratta, told Antara yesterday that Bintang would be summoned
for further questioning now that he had been named as a suspect.

The PPP legislator is, so far, the only person to have been
questioned in relation to the protests in Germany. The military
has named senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad and human rights
activist Yenni Rosa Damayanti as being among those who took part,
"directly or indirectly," in the protests.

Separately, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono denied recent
press reports that President Soeharto had approved a request by
the PPP faction that Bintang be removed from the House of
Representatives.

Moerdiono said there were a number of procedural steps that
the President had yet to take, including consulting with a number
of people and agencies, before he approved the dismissal.

PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum was quoted as announcing on
Sunday that Bintang's dismissal had already been approved by the
President.

Moerdiono said that Bintang's dismissal was not connected with
the investigation concerning the legislator's alleged involvement
in the German protests. (emb)