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.