German group sues Habibie

German group sues Habibie

BONN (Reuter): Rights activists are bringing a libel suit against an Indonesian minister for disparaging demonstrators who heckled Indonesia's President Soeharto during a visit to Germany last year, their lawyer said on Monday.

State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie had said in published comments that the demonstrators criticizing Jakarta's human-rights record were paid up to $50 to heckle Soeharto during a visit to the east German town of Dresden in April 1995.

Lawyer Matthias Zieger said the activists grouped in an association called Conni e.V. had filed a complaint with a court in the town of Stade, near which Habibie has a house, requesting an injunction forcing him to withdraw his comments.

Habibie had attributed the information to the Indonesian honorary consul in Munich, Wolfgang Schoeller, but Schoeller has since denied making such remarks.

The demonstration against the President also prompted a police investigation here following reports that a number of Indonesians took part in the protests.

No one has been charged to this day but politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas is currently on trial for insulting the President during a speech he made in a lecture before Indonesian students in Berlin at around the same time as Soeharto's visit.