Court hears witnesses in Bintang trial
Court hears witnesses in Bintang trial
JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday
began hearing the testimony of prosecution witnesses in the case
of controversial politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, who is on
trial for insulting President Soeharto.
The court overruled Bintang's demand that the trial be
adjourned until after the government prosecutors furnished him
with the transcript of their dossiers, which he said should have
been given to him after the first day of the hearing two months
ago.
Bintang argued that he could not prepare his defense without a
copy of the dossiers.
"I demand that this trial be stopped until I get a full
transcript of the dossiers," he told the judges as reported by
Antara.
Bintang's lawyers -- Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, Adnan Buyung
Nasution, Mohammad Assegaf, and R, Dwiyanto Prihartono --
supported his demand.
However, after a five-minute recess to allow the judges,
lawyers and prosecutors to review the situation, all parties
agreed to proceed and begin with testimony from the witnesses.
Bintang, who was removed from the House of Representatives in
May, is accused of slandering the name of President Soeharto
during a lecture he gave in Berlin last April, about the same
time the head of state was making a state visit to Germany.
The first two witnesses summoned to testify on Tuesday were
Achmad Fachrur Rozy and Azhar Gozali, two students present when
Bintang allegedly made his remarks at Technische Universitat.
They told the court in separate sessions that Bintang
discussed a wide variety of topics about Indonesia, including
poverty, science and technology development, democracy, human
rights, human resources, infrastructure and corruption.
Achmad and Azhar said they heard Bintang comment that Sukarno,
Indonesia's first president, and Soeharto were "dictators" and
"communists" and that both leaders violated the constitution.
"I am sure Bintang said that President Sukarno and President
Soeharto were dictators and communists and violated the laws,"
Achmad said when the prosecutors asked for a reaffirmation.
Achmad added that he has a tape recording of the discussion.
"Bintang made the remarks in response to a question from Sri
Basuki, one of the participants," Azhar said in another session.
Azhar said he only realized the gravity of Bintang's remarks
after reading about them in the Internet.
The trial was adjourned until next Wednesday, when other
witness testimony and a recording of the lecture will be heard.
(imn)