Vocal scholar hauled in for more questioning
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The authorities formally charged outspoken intellectual George Junus Aditjondro on Saturday with insulting the government.
George was summoned to the Yogyakarta police precinct for the second time this month in connection with comments he made during an August seminar on democracy.
Plainclothes police heavily guarded the room where the lecturer from the Salatiga-based Satya Wacana University was questioned from 10:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. behind closed doors.
The authorities said George made slanderous remarks on Indonesia's economic and political practices when he analyzed papers presented by Gen. (ret) Sumitro, former chief of internal security agency and Gen. (ret) Rudini, a former home affairs minister.
George, well-known for his critical stance on the government's policy on the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, says he is unaware which of his remarks in the seminar was considered offensive.
Sources at the police precinct said the questioning was halted after doctors found that his blood pressure had risen to an alarming level. They said that George was able to answer 16 of the 50 questions already listed by the authorities. The questioning is scheduled to resume today.
Before appearing at the police precinct with his lawyers from the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), he had twice declined to come on the grounds that the authorities' letters of invitation did not make it clear why he was invited.
"In legal terms, everything must be accurate," argued LBH lawyer Artijo Alkostar who is defending him during the police investigation.
Police said they formally charged him of slandering the government after they found sufficient evidence from his first interrogation on Oct. 15.
If the court finds him guilty, Aditjondro faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail.
The authorities charged that George had "insulted the Indonesian government both verbally and in written statements."
Confusing
Artijo said that the wording in the charges was "confusing" because George did not present a paper during the seminar on "The Urgency of Political Development in the Process of Democracy in Indonesia," which was organized by the Indonesian Islamic University.
But Maj. Anton Tabah, deputy chief of the Yogyakarta precinct argued that the wording was quoted directly from article 207 of the criminal code.
Artijo said he would request that investigators summon Rudini and Sumitro because their's were the papers being discussed. He also plans to propose that the police also summon Sri Bintang Pamungkas, an outspoken legislator who was also present at the seminar as a witness for his side.
"Rudini and Sumitro should also be questioned for my benefit because I was discussing their papers at the seminar," George said.
George's case has captured the attention of fellow academics and human rights campaigners who are concerned over the various restrictions that the government has re-imposed over the past few months following two years of unprecedented political "openness". (r. fadjri/pan)