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)