Experts testify in defense of psychic Permadi

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Two respected experts on Islam testified yesterday that the people who brought soothsayer Permadi Satrio Wiwoho to court for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad had done so in order to divide Moslems.

Muhammad Imaduddin Abdurrachim and Ridwan Saidi told the Sleman District Court that Permadi aimed to praise Prophet Muhammad when he told a seminar last year that the Prophet was an example of a "good dictator".

Neither Imaduddin nor Ridwan named the individuals which they claimed had insisted on bringing Permadi to court.

However, it is common knowledge that Permadi's allegedly blasphemous comment was first made a public issue by Din Syamsudin, a Moslem scholar who chairs the ruling Golkar party's department of research and development.

Permadi is said to have made the offending 'dictator' remark during a closed workshop at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University on April 20, 1994. The comment was reportedly made in affirmation of a participant's contribution during the seminar's question-and-answer session.

Imaduddin, who is a member of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals' Council of Scholars, said that Permadi meant to praise, rather than insult, the Prophet.

"His statement should not be taken out of context," he told the court.

Imaduddin said Permadi's comment had been exploited by members of a "certain circle" who did not like to see Moslem organizations enjoying good relations with the government.

"Like the case of Sri Bintang Pamungkas, that of Permadi has been blown out of proportion to set Moslems against one another," said Imaduddin, who is known as a consultant to corporate managers.

Charges

Sri Bintang, a former legislator of the Moslem-oriented United Development Party, is facing charges of insulting President Soeharto by allegedly participating in a demonstration against the Indonesian government in Germany in April this year.

From the outset, numerous influential Moslem leaders have publicly defended Permadi and expressed criticism of those who have insisted on his being tried.

Intellectual Ridwan Saidi testified yesterday that it was unfitting to try Permadi on charges of insulting the Prophet Muhammad because, he said, the soothsayer is an admirer of the Prophet.

Ridwan said he had worked with Permadi for five years at Hankamnas, a state agency in charge of drafting the state policy guidelines. He added that he had been close friends with the controversial figure for more than 25 years.

"Moslems in general are not offended by Permadi's comment. It was only certain individuals who made an issue out of Permadi's remark," said the former legislator and official of the United Development Party.

He said that neither the Moslems who have demonstrated in front of Permadi's house nor members of the Indonesian Ulemas' Council (MUI) have the right to claim they represent all Indonesian Moslems in condemning the soothsayer.

The MUI had itself issued controversial edicts on occasion, he said. For example, it once ruled that the state-sponsored SDSB lottery was halal, or religiously permissible, even though numerous Moslem leaders were opposed to the fund-raising scheme because of its speculative nature, he added.

Today the court will hear evidence from senior advocate Adnan Buyung Nasution and Islamic religious teachers Yusuf Hasyim and Ali Yafie. (02/pan)