Megawati to get second summons

Megawati to get second summons

JAKARTA (JP): The ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, will appear before the
police investigating the recent riots once an amended summons has
been issued, one of her lawyers said yesterday.

"The police will issue a second summons soon after they
correct the old one. Nobody can refuse a police summons and
Megawati will gladly and happily meet the summons," Luhut M.P.
Pangaribuan from the Legal Aid Institute told reporters.

Megawati's seven-member legal team met police investigators
for two hours at the Jakarta city police headquarters in response
to a summons received by Megawati on Friday. The summons was
issued in connection with the riots in Jakarta on July 27.

The lawyers were received by Lt. Col. Kamaluddin Lubis and
Capt. Tugino of the City Police Investigation Department.

R.O. Tambunan, who led the legal team, said that Megawati had
not appeared personally because the summons contained several
flaws. He said it was unclear on who she would be expected to
testify against, and there was no accompanying letter from
President Soeharto endorsing the police request for her to answer
questions.

Under Indonesian law, the police must have authorization from
the President to question a member of the House of
Representatives. Megawati is a House member for the PDI and a
member of the People's Consultative Assembly.

There have been reports that Soeharto has given his assent to
the summons, but Megawati's lawyers said this was not reflected
in the police document.

Tambunan said that Megawati had received the summons on
Friday. Although she legally had three days to respond to the
summons, the police had only given her two days notice for
questioning.

Pangaribuan said it was unclear when the police would issue
the second summons.

A copy of the summons for Megawati, which was made available
to The Jakarta Post, said that she was to be questioned in
connection with crimes committed between June 17 and July 28 this
year.

The crimes were related to the "free speech" forums which were
held daily after Megawati was ousted by her PDI rival Soerjadi in
a government-backed rebel congress. The forums at the party's
headquarters drew huge enthusiastic crowds.

The government has accused Megawati supporters of using the
free speech forums as a platform for anti-government propaganda.

Megawati has filed a lawsuit against the rebel congress
committee, the new PDI central board and the government and the
military for backing and facilitating the congress.

Tambunan said yesterday that the legal team also represented
Aberson Marle Sihaloho, another PDI legislator, for similar
police questioning.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna confirmed
yesterday that the police would soon summon Megawati again.

"It is a common police investigation procedure. We'll give her
three times to attend to our summons," Iman told reporters
yesterday.

Asked if the police would force Megawati to appear if she
refused to do so, Iman said: "Let's just wait and see."

Iman explained that Megawati was wanted for questioning "as an
individual", not in her capacity as a member of the House of
Representatives or as the chairperson of PDI.

He said that Megawati was to be questioned as a witness, not
as a suspect. "We want to check her statements against the
testimony of several people, currently under police
interrogation, who claim to be her loyalists," Iman said.

"We need her to testify as a witness, not as a suspect," he
said.

Iman said the police investigators would also question the new
PDI chairman Soerjadi. (imn/bsr)

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