Legislator accused of defaming Soeharto
Legislator accused of defaming Soeharto
JAKARTA (JP): The trial of outspoken legislator Aberson Marle
Sihaloho, accused of defaming President Soeharto in a public
speech, began yesterday at the Central Jakarta District Court.
The member of House of Representatives from the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) faction was also accused of making
slanderous remarks about the Armed Forces and the House in a
speech attended by hundreds of people at the PDI headquarters on
July 13, 1996.
Judge Soehardjo presided over the court session. Prosecutor
Y.W. Mere charged Aberson under articles 134 and 207 of the
Criminal Code which, combined, carry a maximum penalty of seven-
and-a-half-years imprisonment.
Mere accused Aberson of saying in the speech, held in a free
forum after PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri was ousted in June:
"Throughout the 30 years of Soeharto's leadership, our freedom
has been stolen and we are being colonized once again."
"Aberson also said:'If Soeharto is really subjugating us, we
just have to leave it to God'," said Mere.
As for the alleged slander of the Armed Forces (ABRI), Mere
accused Aberson of linking the Army with various coup attempts in
the era of Sukarno, Indonesia's first president.
Aberson allegedly also said: "Look, who have been the rebels
after all. The Army. Who led DI/TII, the Army. Who shot the
generals in the 1965 communist coup, the Army. So, why are they
blaming the people now?"
DI/TII, or the Darul Islam/Tentara Islam Indonesia, proclaimed
an independent Indonesian Islamic State in 1949. The move was led
by an army deserter, Maridjan Kartosuwirjo. President Sukarno
crushed the movement in 1962.
Mere said Aberson also defamed his own institution by
saying: "Our natural resources, which should form the basis for
people's prosperity, have become the basis for the prosperity of
bureaucrats and conglomerates. Legislators are no longer
representing the people, they have turned into conglomerate
representatives."
Aberson denied making all the statements.
"The prosecutor has twisted my words. Some of my words are
there but all of them are quoted out of context," he said.
A group of Aberson's supporters packed the courthouse and
distributed photocopies of Aberson's version of the July 13
speech, which differed from that of the prosecutor.
Aberson's lawyer, Luhut Pangaribuan objected to the
prosecutor's usage of recorded tapes as evidence.
"Tapes could change in time and be changed, while valid proof
has to be infallible. Otherwise, the indictment would also be
invalid."
The court was adjourned until Feb. 18. (35)