Police complete questioning Bintang
Police complete questioning Bintang
JAKARTA (JP): Police yesterday completed their investigation
of Sri Bintang Pamungkas before considering their next move
against the controversial politician.
"The investigators told me that the questioning session was
over," Bintang told reporters at the Foundation of the Indonesian
Legal Aid Institute office after his ninth trip to the National
Police headquarters since May 16 to address allegations made
against him.
The police are reviewing the case but did not rule out the
possibility of summoning Bintang again to answer further
questions.
The accusations against Bintang, since his case surfaced in
April, have varied from taking part in a demonstration against
President Soeharto in Germany, defaming the good name of the
President and the government during the protest, to discrediting
the government at a seminar in Germany.
Yesterday, Bintang was accompanied by his lawyers Harjono
Tjitrosoebono, Soekardjo Adidjojo, Mohammad Assegaf, and R.
Dwiyanto Prihartono.
Bintang was removed from the House of Representatives (DPR) by
his own faction, the United Development Party (PPP) last month.
He has also been named as the main suspect in the police
investigation over allegations that a number of Indonesians took
part in anti-Indonesia demonstrations in Germany during the visit
of President Soeharto to that country in April.
Bintang has denied the accusations, saying that he was a
curious, innocent bystander during the protest at Hannover, one
of the cities visited by Soeharto. Bintang was in Germany at
about the same time to take part in a number of speaking
engagements.
He also rejected the accusations that his criticism of the
government amounted to defamation. "Does it mean I slander and
degrade the government if I criticized the government in my
speeches?" he asked yesterday.
Bintang said he is now planning a move of his own, with a
possible counter-suit against the police for the way they handled
his case.
Today, the former legislator plans to file a complaint with
the National Police over what he called "irregularities" in the
way the investigation has so far been carried out, including the
denial of his political rights, he said.
He said he is also submitting to the police a list of people
whom he believed would support his defense should the police go
ahead with prosecuting. He declined to disclose their names other
than stating that these people were organizers for one of the
seminars he attended.
Police, according to Bintang, have already questioned three
Indonesian students who arranged the seminar at Humboldt
University in Berlin, Germany, on April 10. They were Ahmad
Fachrur Rozy, Bayu Dirgantara Setiaji and Azhar Rozali.
Police have also questioned four legislators in connection
with the investigation of Bintang. The four -- Mohammad Mansur,
Tengku Ghazali Amna, Markus Wauran and Haris Ali Moerfi -- were
with Soeharto's delegation to Germany. (imn)