Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesian police have said they will question an entertainer for allegedly inciting hatred against the state by defaming government and national symbols. Police spokesman Colonel Anton Bahrul Alam said recording artist and actor Harry Roesli was "playing with fire" when he sang a satirical version of a national song, Garuda Pancasila, during the country's independence day celebrations last week.

"The lyrics were defamatory," the spokesman told The Straits Times on Thursday. "We cannot allow anyone to make fun of state symbols. We don't want others to follow his example."

The move to interrogate Mr Roesli – who faces a seven-year jail term or a 4.5 million rupiah (S$1,000) fine if convicted – was slammed by non-governmental bodies. They charged that it was the clearest indication yet that the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri was attempting to put a tight lid on freedom of expression. "This is not a good sign because it suggests the start of a subtle repressiveness against society which mirrors what only Suharto did. We stand to lose whatever freedom we earned over the last three years," former student activist Hariman Siregar said.

There has been widespread speculation in the local press that the government was quietly taking steps to curtail the liberal shenanigans of recent years. Apart from the Roesli saga, they point to the establishment of a revived Information and Communications Department as evidence that the authorities are planning to gag the press.

But pro-establishment figures said such sentiments were misplaced because the President had placed reform high on her list of priorities. Said a senior government official: "People comparing her to Suharto are just trying to put pressure on her not to take certain measures that would actually do this country more good than harm. We need some order in this country and to have order people must follow the rules. There is nothing wrong in summoning Roesli. He attacked a national symbol and must pay the price for it. The police in any other democratic country would have done the same thing."

Mr Roesli's song parodies a tune about Pancasila, the philosophy of national unity, and the Garuda, a mythical eagle that is Indonesia's state symbol. On Thursday, he denied any wrongdoing and said the song simply calls on the government to help the poor. But he had earlier published an apology in the leading Kompas daily to those he offended.