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)