Court cannot prove Bintang's guilt, defense lawyers say

Court cannot prove Bintang's guilt, defense lawyers say

JAKARTA (JP): The defense lawyers for outspoken politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas told the Central Jakarta district court yesterday that prosecutors had failed to prove that the defendant had slandered President Soeharto as charged.

Therefore the lawyers urged the court to free the defendant of all charges.

The team of prosecutors, led by prominent lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, in the defense statement said "had Sri Bintang really had the intention to slander the President, he would have done so when he gave his lecture, before the discussion, at the Technische Universitaet Berlin."

Last month the prosecutors urged the court to jail Sri Bintang for four years for the offense, which was allegedly committed during a discussion at the TU Berlin last year. His lawyers said that Sri Bintang's hadn't only gone to Germany to attend the discussion, and that his lecture contained none of the words which the prosecutors said slandered the Indonesian head of state.

The lawyers said that what the prosecutors gave in their indictment as Sri Bintang's statement was not what he said actually his words and what the prosecutors interpreted as a remark defaming the President was merely Sri Bintang's response to a statement by a previous speaker which the moderator had not tried to stop.

They also reminded the panel of judges that Sri Bintang's lecture and the discussion lasted two hours. "If he did say the slanderous words he must have done so unintentionally; the discussion was heated in nature."

The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday to hear the prosecutors reply to the defense statement. (tis)