Prosecutors press on with Bintang's trial
Prosecutors press on with Bintang's trial
JAKARTA (JP): State prosecutors urged the Central Jakarta
District Court yesterday to proceed with the trial of former
legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas on charges of slandering the
head of state, saying that his interrogation met with all proper
procedures.
P. Sitinjak, the chief prosecutor in the case, told the court
that Bintang lost all privileges accorded to members of the House
of Representatives the moment the United Development Party (PPP)
expelled him in February.
When police began questioning Bintang in April, he was no
longer a member of the House, Sitinjak said.
The controversial politician had earlier urged the court to
dismiss the charge against him because the law protects a
legislator against criminal charges unless there was a written
permission from the President.
Bintang is being charged with insulting President Soeharto
during one of his lectures before Indonesian students in Germany.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum of six years
imprisonment. The politician has denied the accusation.
The PPP leaders initiated the move for his dismissal from the
House in February, saying that he had fallen out of the party's
official line on various sensitive political issues, including
the political role of the Armed Forces.
President Soeharto endorsed the proposal in May when the
police investigation against Bintang was already well underway.
Sitinjak said the endorsement was a mere formality, and that
Bintang had already lost all privileges since February.
He pointed out that, police had also obtained a written
permission from President Soeharto to initiate criminal
proceedings against Bintang in April.
Bintang has disputed the existence of such permission because
police only showed him the letter briefly during the
investigation but never handed him a copy.
The outspoken politician was accompanied yesterday by his
lawyers Adnan Buyung Nasution, Soekardjo Adidjojo, Luhut M.P.
Pangaribuan, and R. Dwiyanto Prihartono.
The trial is one of three court battles Bintang is fighting
against the government.
He has filed two lawsuits at the Jakarta State Administrative
Court: one demanding that the court order the government to lift
an overseas travel ban, and another urging the court to declare
the president's decision to remove him from the House as
unconstitutional. Both cases are still being heard.
Bintang's lawyers urged the Central Jakarta District Court
last week to postpone the trial pending the outcome of the
hearings of the two earlier lawsuits at the Jakarta State
Administrative Court. (imn)