Questioning over July 27 riots continues
Questioning over July 27 riots continues
JAKARTA (JP): The authorities continued their questioning
yesterday of Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of a small leftist
group accused of subversion, and announced a fresh round of
questioning of witnesses.
Deposed chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
Megawati Soekarnoputri is to be questioned again on Tuesday.
Senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad, government critic Ali
Sadikin and Catholic priest Father Ismartono of the Indonesian
Bishop's Conference have all been summoned for questioning on
Monday.
Ismartono chairs the interfaith relations department at the
Indonesian Bishop's Conference; Goenawan heads the unrecognized
Independent Election Monitoring Committee, while Ali Sadikin is a
leader of the Petisi 50 group of government critics. They will be
questioned as witnesses in the cases against labor activist
Muchtar Pakpahan and Budiman.
Both Muchtar and Budiman, who heads the Democratic People's
Party, have been accused of inciting the July 27 riots which
erupted after the storming of the PDI headquarters -- then
occupied by Megawati loyalists -- by supporters of new chairman
Soerjadi.
Soeryadi is also to be questioned again on Wednesday,
according to the spokesman of the Attorney General Office, Pontas
Pasaribu. The office has also sent a second summons to Bambang
Widjojanto, the executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Institute.
Bambang refused to answer the first summons, saying that he
could not be questioned as a witness against Budiman, who had
already solicited his legal help.
The questioning of Budiman by officers at the Attorney
General's Office lasted for six hours yesterday. His lawyer
Johnson Panjaitan said that 26 questions were put to Budiman.
At the City Police headquarters, officers began their
questioning of Benny Sumardi, the brother of Father Ignatius
Sandyawan Sumardi S.J., a Catholic priest accused of protecting
Budiman and his friends when they were being hunted by the
authorities. Sandyawan gave the fugitives shelter at Benny's
house in Bekasi, a suburb east of Jakarta.
Pontas said journalists are now allowed to interview and take
pictures of those being questioned at the Attorney General's
Office.
Detainees
Separately, the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors' Office
released five PDI supporters from the Salemba detention center in
Central Jakarta yesterday. They were among the 124 Megawati
supporters arrested following the party headquarters' takeover on
July 27.
Prior to being detained at Salemba, they were held at the City
Police detention center.
Munir from the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation,
which is coordinating a team of more than 60 lawyers representing
the detainees, said that none of the lawyers asked for the five
detainees to be released.
However, he said that he asked for the release of five women
and an 18-year-old man from the Pondok Bambu detention center.
"They are in a weak condition. One of the women, Nurhayati, is
three months pregnant," Munir said.
Munir's colleague, Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, said that the
detainees could demand compensation from the government for the
hardships they experienced during detention. (16)
JAKARTA (JP): The authorities continued their questioning
yesterday of Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of a small leftist
group accused of subversion, and announced a fresh round of
questioning of witnesses.
Deposed chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
Megawati Soekarnoputri is to be questioned again on Tuesday.
Senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad, government critic Ali
Sadikin and Catholic priest Father Ismartono of the Indonesian
Bishop's Conference have all been summoned for questioning on
Monday.
Ismartono chairs the interfaith relations department at the
Indonesian Bishop's Conference; Goenawan heads the unrecognized
Independent Election Monitoring Committee, while Ali Sadikin is a
leader of the Petisi 50 group of government critics. They will be
questioned as witnesses in the cases against labor activist
Muchtar Pakpahan and Budiman.
Both Muchtar and Budiman, who heads the Democratic People's
Party, have been accused of inciting the July 27 riots which
erupted after the storming of the PDI headquarters -- then
occupied by Megawati loyalists -- by supporters of new chairman
Soerjadi.
Soeryadi is also to be questioned again on Wednesday,
according to the spokesman of the Attorney General Office, Pontas
Pasaribu. The office has also sent a second summons to Bambang
Widjojanto, the executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Institute.
Bambang refused to answer the first summons, saying that he
could not be questioned as a witness against Budiman, who had
already solicited his legal help.
The questioning of Budiman by officers at the Attorney
General's Office lasted for six hours yesterday. His lawyer
Johnson Panjaitan said that 26 questions were put to Budiman.
At the City Police headquarters, officers began their
questioning of Benny Sumardi, the brother of Father Ignatius
Sandyawan Sumardi S.J., a Catholic priest accused of protecting
Budiman and his friends when they were being hunted by the
authorities. Sandyawan gave the fugitives shelter at Benny's
house in Bekasi, a suburb east of Jakarta.
Pontas said journalists are now allowed to interview and take
pictures of those being questioned at the Attorney General's
Office.
Detainees
Separately, the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors' Office
released five PDI supporters from the Salemba detention center in
Central Jakarta yesterday. They were among the 124 Megawati
supporters arrested following the party headquarters' takeover on
July 27.
Prior to being detained at Salemba, they were held at the City
Police detention center.
Munir from the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation,
which is coordinating a team of more than 60 lawyers representing
the detainees, said that none of the lawyers asked for the five
detainees to be released.
However, he said that he asked for the release of five women
and an 18-year-old man from the Pondok Bambu detention center.
"They are in a weak condition. One of the women, Nurhayati, is
three months pregnant," Munir said.
Munir's colleague, Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, said that the
detainees could demand compensation from the government for the
hardships they experienced during detention. (16)