Bintang won't seek presidential pardon

Bintang won't seek presidential pardon

JAKARTA (JP): Rebel politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas said
yesterday he would not seek a presidential pardon after being
officially declared a criminal.

Bintang was moved yesterday from a cell at the Attorney
General's Office to Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta after
losing his appeal against a Supreme Court ruling.

On April 11, the Supreme Court sentenced Bintang, a former
legislator of the United Development Party (PPP) to two years and
10 months imprisonment for insulting President Soeharto during a
speech in Germany.

Attorney general spokesman, Suhartoyo, said moving Bintang to
Cipinang prison meant he had been officially declared a criminal.

Walking out of the Attorney General's Office cell, Bintang
said "Alhamdulillah (Thank God), I'm in a good shape. This (being
jailed) is a consequence of the struggle," he said.

Before entering the armored car being used to transport him to
prison, Bintang, wearing a dark blue suit and striped red and
white shirt, said he did not need to seek a pardon from the
President.

Bambang Widjojanto, one of his lawyers, told The Jakarta Post
yesterday that Bintang and the lawyers still discussed the
possibility of a second appeal.

Bintang has also been charged with subversion in connection
with activities of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PUDI) which
he chairs.

On March 5, Bintang and two other PUDI activists, Julius Usman
and Saleh Abdullah, were arrested after having lunch with the
attorney general's intelligence chief, Gatot Hendrarto.

Julius and Saleh have been released.

Bintang's lawyers had earlier demanded his release, saying
there was not enough evidence to proceed with the case. But the
government refuted the claim in a pretrial hearing at the South
Jakarta District Court, saying the arrest was based on Criminal
Code Procedures.

The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association
denounced the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, saying it was wrong
to punish those whose politic stance differed from the
government's. (05/imn)