Scholar Jeffrey Winters returns
Scholar Jeffrey Winters returns
JAKARTA (JP): Distinguished American Indonesianist Jeffrey A.
Winters, who became a cause celebre last October after
he was accused of slandering a minister, returned to the country
on Sunday.
He passed through the immigration check at Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport without incident, unlike Japanese scholar
Yoshihara Kunio who was denied entry last Sunday.
"I appreciate Indonesia's hospitability," he told The Jakarta
Post at the airport.
He was met by Todung Mulya Lubis, who has acted as his
lawyer since the police sought him for questioning for allegedly
slandering Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and
Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita and business associates.
As he left the terminal, Winters was met by journalists who
peppered him with questions, including on whether he felt he
would be able to leave the country.
"It's the reform era, of course he can," Todung responded.
Max Riberu of book publisher Pustaka Sinar Harapan
which arranged his visit said the professor of political
economics from Chicago-based Northwestern University would attend
the launching of two of his books in Jakarta on Monday. He will
travel to Yogyakarta on Tuesday and Surabaya on Wednesday.
The books are Indonesian translations of his Power In Motion
and The New Order's Political Sins.
The controversy was sparked by Winters' assertion during a
public forum that Ginandjar was involved in dubious dealings in
the extension of the mining contract of copper and gold mining
giant PT Freeport Indonesia. Ginandjar was minister of mines and
energy when the extension was made in the early 1990s.
A miffed Ginandjar accused the American of slander.
The police immediately acted on Ginandjar's grievance, setting
up a special investigative team to question Winters on charges of
discrediting an incumbent minister.
Even Minister of Justice Muladi entered the fray, stating that
Winters should be banned from entering Indonesia for violating
Article 316 of the Criminal Code regarding insult and injury to
the reputation of a senior official.
The furor died down after a few weeks because Winters had
returned to the U.S. several days after making the allegation.
(aan)