Students testify in favor of Bintang
Students testify in favor of Bintang
JAKARTA (JP): Two Indonesians studying in Berlin testified
yesterday in favor of ousted legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas,
who is accused of insulting President Soeharto in Germany in
April,.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation lawyers defending Bintang
said that another student studying in Berlin had also been
questioned by police on Tuesday.
Foundation spokesman Hendardi said that the police
investigators simultaneously questioned two Indonesian students
yesterday. Both had attended a seminar at the Technische
Universiteit which featured Bintang as the speaker.
The two students were Iwan Setiabudi, 23, and Kristianto
Hindratmo S., 24. Iwan, a former chairman of the Berlin's chapter
of the Indonesian Students Association (PPI), was in charge of
recording Bintang's lecture, while Kristianto was a participant.
"The interrogation focussed on the activities of the Berlin-
chapter of the Indonesian Students Association," Hendardi told
The Jakarta Post.
He said that the interrogators queried Iwan why the student
association invited Bintang to address the Indonesian students in
Berlin.
"It is a common practice for Berlin's PPI to invite Indonesian
scholars who visited the city of Berlin to lecture," Hendardi
quoted Iwan as replying.
The police investigators also dug for more information on what
the former legislator from the United Development Party discussed
at the seminar.
Bintang is currently in trouble for his alleged role in a
series of anti-Indonesian activities during his visit to Germany,
which occurred at the same time as President Soeharto's official
visit to the country.
Police also interrogated Ignatius Iryanto, 33, a Berlin
student who was the moderator of the seminar, on Tuesday.
Iryanto, who returned to Germany yesterday, said that the
seminar at the Technische Universiteit was attended by at least
60 people.
In June, police heard testimonies from Ahmad Fachrur Rozy and
Faizal Masnain, Indonesian students studying in Berlin who had
attended the seminar. They testified that Bintang called
President Soeharto a dictator.
"Both Ahmad and Faizal left before the seminar was over,"
Iryanto said.
Iryanto told the police investigators that Bintang never said
anything aimed at insulting President Soeharto.
He also said that he was confronted with a transcript of a
tape recording of the seminar, which was obtained from Ahmad
Fachrur Rozy.
He said that he could not remember all the things that Bintang
discussed in the seminar because it was too long ago. (imn)