Bintang makes headway in lawsuit against state

Bintang makes headway in lawsuit against state

JAKARTA (JP): Controversial politician and ousted legislator
Sri Bintang Pamungkas yesterday made little but significant
headway in his lawsuit against the government for slapping a ban
on overseas travel.

"The court has accepted the lawsuit, but it asked for some
editorial corrections," Bintang told reporters after the first
hearing of his case at the Jakarta Administrative Court.

This meant that the suit passed the dismissal review which was
held behind closed doors yesterday between the judge, Bintang and
his lawyers and the lawyers representing Attorney General
Singgih, who was named as the defendant.

The six-month travel ban on Bintang was signed on April 17 by
chief of the Directorate of Social Politics of the Attorney
General's Office, Kadarman. Bintang was not informed of the ban
until five days later.

Bintang later filed a complaint to the Armed Forces and the
National Commission on Human Rights saying that the travel ban
violated his basic human rights.

The travel ban came as Bintang, then still a member of the
House of Representatives, was the chief target of a government
investigation after President Soeharto complained that some
Indonesians took part in a demonstration against him during his
visit to Germany in April.

Bintang has denied participating in the demonstration but
police are now investigating another allegation that he gave a
speech in Germany in which he attacked the integrity of the head
of state.

Bintang yesterday was represented by lawyers from the
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation while the attorney generals were
represented by Ibrahim Laconi, Irdan Dahlan, Sri Hartoyi Waluyo,
and Syaiful Bachtiar. The three judges appointed to hear the case
are Sudarto Radyo, H.T.A. Husny and Sudaryono.

Bintang has also filed another lawsuit with the same court
demanding that he be reinstated as member of the House of
Representatives.

Bintang, who formerly represented the United Development Party
at the House, was dismissed from his post at the initiative of
party leaders who felt that he had gone against the party's
official line on many issues. (03)