Soerjadi questioned again about the July 27 riots

JAKARTA (JP): The government-recognized chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Soerjadi, was questioned yesterday at the Attorney General's Office on the July 27 riots.

Soerjadi arrived at the office at 9 a.m. without his lawyers. He was questioned as a witness in the cases being built against labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan and political activist Budiman Sudjatmiko.

Pakpahan and Budiman are facing subversion charges for their roles in the July riots that erupted after Soerjadi's supporters took over the PDI headquarters from the supporters of the party's ousted leader, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The attorney general's spokesman, Pontas Pasaribu, said late yesterday afternoon that Soerjadi would not talk to journalists because he had other commitments after the questioning was over.

Pasaribu said his office had sent a third summons to chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Bambang Widjojanto to attend questioning today.

Bambang, a lawyer assisting both Megawati and Budiman, has ignored two summons on the grounds that they do not state clearly why he is being summoned.

Pasaribu said the authorities would forcibly pick him up if he refused the third summons.

Government investigators are scheduled to grill Goenawan Muhamad, for a second time, today. Goenawan is a former chief editor of Tempo magazine which the government closed down in 1994.

Goenawan was summoned as a witness in the case being built against Budiman Sudjatmiko, the chief of the Democratic People's Party (PRD), which the government accuses of inciting the riots. (16)