Pictures prove nothing, Sri Bintang and lawyer say

Pictures prove nothing, Sri Bintang and lawyer say

JAKARTA (JP): As Sri Bintang Pamungkas plays down the pictures that were taken of him among demonstrators in Germany, the police plan to carry through with their plans to use the photos as evidence of his involvement in the anti-Indonesian government protest last April.

The former legislator, who is suspected of taking part in demonstrations held to coincide with President Soeharto's visit to Germany, said the photographs "did not prove anything".

He admitted to having had his pictures taken during his stay in Hannover, where one demonstration took place, but could not recall the particular pictures now in the hands of the police.

"Those pictures are not in my collection, and I don't remember posing in such a way," he told The Jakarta Post. "I don't know who took them and who gave them to the police."

"I would believe the pictures were really of me if a friend or someone I knew gave them to me," he said Wednesday.

One of the pictures, published in Gatra magazine, showed Bintang standing in front of a banner with messages in German held by two protesters. Another is of Bintang and Yeni Rosa Damayanti, a young activist who was also allegedly involved in the protests, holding a poster with a picture of President Soeharto.

Bintang also admitted to having his pictures taken with Yenni as well as a number of other Germans. "I was interviewed by Radio Hilversum there, too, and had my pictures taken with Yenni, but whether in such a pose, I don't remember," he said.

Both Bintang and one of his lawyers, Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, would not theorize as to whether the pictures had been manipulated.

"I'm not saying the picture has been manipulated, but legally they don't prove anything," Luhut said.

"We don't know for sure whether the pictures were taken in a place where a suspected crime was occurring, or whether Bintang was really there... but yes, there's technology to engineer pictures," he said.

Bintang again stated his readiness to ride out the charges against him.

"We'll just see what else the police will come up with," he said. "They can bring up any evidence they want to, dig up anything, I'm not scared."

Bintang has explained that although he watched a demonstration in Hannover, but he never went to Dresden where another demonstration occurred. "I watched the demonstration because I considered it a free show," he said. (swe)