Playwright to meet police summons

JAKARTA (JP): Playwright Ratna Sarumpaet is scheduled to be questioned by city police detectives on Tuesday morning as a witness in an alleged defamation of President B.J. Habibie, her lawyer said.

Speaking to the media on Monday after meeting with the city's senior police officers, Johnson Panjaitan from the Association of Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights (PBHI) said that Ratna had been summoned for questioning at 10 a.m on Tuesday.

The police have refused to disclose who they are investigating following an incident which allegedly took place during a dialog at Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta on Aug. 16, the lawyer added.

Separately, city police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman joked that he had invited Ratna to the headquarters to "have a chat with her".

Ratna, who was detained for holding an illegal political meeting here in March, has received two police summons as a witness to the defamation but declined to meet them because their purpose was unclear.

"She was summoned as a witness by the police, but the police didn't state who the suspect was," Johnson said.

During the visit to the city police headquarters on Monday, Johnson again asked the police to clarify the summons sent to his client, but received no satisfactory answer.

"I know they are bound within a hierarchy which they must obey," Johnson said. (emf)