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Taufik Kiemas goes to police with 20 lawyers

Source
Jawa Pos - February 19, 1997 (Abridged)

Taufik Kiemas, the husband of Megawati Sukarnoputri, complied with a summons from the Jakarta police and was accompanied by twenty lawyers and hundreds of Megawati supporters. He was interrogated for seven hours. During the questioning, he was accompanied by four lawyers.

Several hundred Megawati supporters had gathered outside the police station several hours before he arrived and their numbers increased during the day.

Taufik had been summoned as a 'witness' regarding a 'political meeting' held in his home, without the necessary permit on 10 January.

After Taufik came out, he was surrounded by dozens of Indonesian and foreign journalists but he did not answered any questions. One lawyer told the waiting journalists he had been asked 29 questions about the meeting, the permit and who was responsible for the event.

The lawyer said that in the second police summons, mention was made of who the 'suspect' in the case might be, Haryanto Taslam who chaired the committee in charge of the meeting.

Taufik told the police that as the host, he was not involved in the arrangements, only as the host of a gathering which was a 'breaking-the-fast' get-together. He said he knew nothing about any application for a permit because everything was left to the organising committee. The lawyer said the police questioning would continue next Tuesday.

It was announced that Megawati herself would be questioned by the police on Thursday, 20 February.

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