Bintang's witnesses approved
JAKARTA (JP): The police will allow three Indonesian students studying in Berlin to testify on the behalf of politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, who faces charges of insulting President Soeharto during his visit to Germany in April.
"Chief Detective of the National Police Brig. Gen. Rusdihardjo said this afternoon that the three students can be included as witnesses for Bintang's defense in the police investigation report," R. Dwiyanto Prihartono, a lawyer for Bintang's, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
The three students are: Iwan Setiabudi, 23 years old; Ignatius Iryanto, 33; and Kristianto Hindratmo S., 24. All are students of the Technische Universiteit in Berlin and were participants at a seminar held by the German chapter of the Indonesian Students Association (PPI); The seminar's speaker was Bintang.
Iwan, PPI Berlin's former chairman, was responsible for recording Bintang's remarks; Iryanto, moderated the seminar session; and Kristianto was a participant. The students, who arrived here on July 17, will return to Berlin this week.
Dwiyanto said the students accompanied Bintang on a visit to the national police headquarters yesterday. According to Dwiyanto, they were received by Rusdihardjo and the head of the general crime detective unit Col. Suparman. The students will be questioned at the detective unit office today.
The accusations against Bintang, since his case surfaced in April, have varied from taking part in a demonstration against President Soeharto in Germany, to defaming the name of the President and the Indonesian government during a protest, to discrediting the government at a seminar in Germany.
Bintang was removed from the House of Representatives by his own faction, the United Development Party, in May for allegedly violating party policies and offending cabinet ministers.
He has also been named as the main suspect in the police investigation over allegations that a number of Indonesians took part in anti-Indonesian demonstrations in Germany during the visit of President Soeharto to that country in April.
Bintang has denied the accusations, saying that he was a curious, innocent bystander at the protests in Hannover, a German city visited by Soeharto. Bintang was in Germany taking part in a number of speaking engagements when the protests occurred.
He rejected accusations that his criticism of the government amounts to defamation. "Do I slander and degrade the government if I criticize it in speeches," he has repeatedly asked reporters.
Meanwhile Hendardi, director for Communication and Special Programs of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, revealed yesterday that seven German citizens who took part in a the demonstrations, have acknowledged their readiness to be witnesses for Bintang's defense.(imn)