Soerjadi questioned again about the July 27 riots

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.
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