Bintang dismisses taped evidence

Bintang dismisses taped evidence

JAKARTA (JP): Sri Bintang Pamungkas denied it was his voice on
a recording used by prosecutors to prove that he had insulted
President Soeharto during a lecture he gave at a German
university last April.

"I deny making any of the recorded statements. The speaker's
voice resembles mine but it is not mine," the controversial
politician told the judges during a hearing on Wednesday.

The Central Jakarta District Court heard testimony from
Bintang, who is accused by government prosecutors of calling
President Soeharto, and his predecessor Sukarno, dictators and
violators of the 1945 Constitution. Bintang allegedly made the
remarks during a seminar at the Technische Universitaet in
Berlin.

"With current technology, it's possible to manipulate the
content and quality of a tape recording," he said.

The government prosecutors did not play the recording during
yesterday's session. However, previous witnesses, including the
seminar's organizers, have either testified that Bintang did not
make the remarks or that they could not recognize the voice in
the recording as Bintang's.

"How can we say that it is Bintang's voice if the recording
cannot even be heard clearly," one of the witnesses said.

Bintang and his lawyers have, from the outset, rejected the
use of the recording as evidence. "The practice is not accepted
in our court system," one of the lawyers said.

The lawyers yesterday told the prosecutors that the dossiers
on Bintang contained flaws.

"The prosecutors have accused our client of defaming President
Soeharto during the seminar," said Adnan Buyung Nasution, one of
the lawyers. "Then how come the dossiers also include the police
investigators' summary of inquiries on several witnesses over a
series of demonstration, which occurred at almost the same time
as the President's visit to Germany?"

Buyung brought up the question after the presiding judge,
Syoffinan Sumantri, interrupted him while he was questioning
Bintang over his alleged role in the demonstrations. The judge
said Buyung's line of questioning was not relevant and told him
to focus on the seminar.

R. Dwiyanto Prihartono, another of Bintang's lawyers, told The
Jakarta Post that more than 50 percent of the dossiers submitted
by the prosecutors were about the demonstrations.

The trial was adjourned until next Wednesday, when two key
witnesses, Sri Basuki and Sunarto, are scheduled to testify in
court.

The two people were among the many bright Indonesian bright
students sent to study abroad in the 1960s by then president
Sukarno as part of his massive campaign to redress the country's
underdevelopment. (imn)