Wed, 28 Jun 1995

Bintang races against police to build defense

JAKARTA (JP): Sri Bintang Pamungkas, the vocal government critic facing prosecution for allegedly insulting President Soeharto, is in a race against the police to collect evidence for his defense.

"If they are looking for witnesses to support their case, I won't stay quiet. I'll be looking for my own witnesses," Bintang was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.

Police said they have added a former student leader and a language expert to the list of witnesses who will support their case against Bintang. They previously questioned a number of House of Representatives members and brought home three Indonesian students residing in Germany, all expenses paid for by the state, to help with their inquiry.

Bintang lost his seat in the House last month when he fell out of favor with the leaders of his United Development Party.

According to the latest line of investigation, he now stands accused of insulting President Soeharto during a speech in Germany on April 9.

Earlier, police suggested that Bintang had taken part in a demonstration against President Soeharto during the same visit. So far he is the only suspect in the case although the military earlier indicated that several Indonesians took part in the demonstration.

Bintang, who was in Germany for a number of speaking engagements at the same time as Soeharto, has denied all the charges.

He said yesterday that he will contact the organizers of the seminar at Berlin's Technische Universitat to support his defense if the police go ahead with their prosecution.

Police investigators say they have evidence that Bintang called Soeharto a "dictator" during his speech in Berlin, where he discussed the economic development of Indonesia.

The Chief of the National Police Detective Division, Brig. Gen. Roesdihardjo was quoted as saying by Antara yesterday that police have sought the opinion of a language expert from the Ministry of Education and Culture regarding the word "dictator."

The expert confirmed that the word carries a negative connotation and is pejorative, Roesdihardjo said, without naming the official.

The General Indonesian Dictionary defines a dictator as a head of state that has absolute power obtained through force or undemocratic means, the police officer said.

Roesdihardjo added that the police might seek the testimony of another Indonesian student who was present at the speech in Berlin.

He also said that the investigation should be completed by the middle of July, at which point the case will be transferred to the government prosecution office.

Bintang early this week denied having ever used the word dictator in reference to President Soeharto.

"They (police) are making it up," he said as quoted by Antara.

"I have to admit that my way of thinking is very different from Pak Harto's and that we don't see things eye to eye" he said referring to the President. "But that doesn't mean I'm at liberty to call Pak Harto a dictator."

Roesdihardjo meanwhile praised Bintang for his cooperation throughout the police investigation. "He explained his case well and was quite cooperative. He's a gentleman. I'm satisfied with him." (emb)