Bintang won't take case to world body

JAKARTA (JP): Former legislator and staunch government critic Sri Bintang Pamungkas denied yesterday that he had ever planned to lodge a complaint with the International Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland.

"I have never intended or tried to bring my case to an international body, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union or Sub- Commission on Human Rights in Geneva," Bintang told journalists after a meeting with members of Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights.

The rights issue in question was the government's move to bar Bintang from going abroad and from speaking in public.

A former member of the House of Representatives representing the Moslem-based United Development Party, Bintang was dismissed from his post following allegations that he had taken part in a demonstration against President Soeharto in Dresden while the head of state was visiting Germany in April.

Bintang was received yesterday by Commissioners Bambang W. Soeharto, Charles Himawan and Meriam Budiarjo.

Bintang's lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said on Monday that if the National Commission could not provide relief in the case of his client he would refer it to the International Human Rights Commission. (03)