Jenny Grant, Jakarta – In the first case in which President Bacharuddin Habibie has taken legal offence at public criticism, Indonesian police have summonsed actress Ratna Sarumpaet as a "witness to insulting the President".

Ms Sarumpaet said yesterday she would refuse to obey the summons, issued over a National Dialogue for Democracy conference she organised last month. The missive said Ms Sarumpaet was a witness in the "criminal case of insulting the President" and "organising a conference without a permit". The actress said: "I am sure that in their minds I am the suspect. They are just trying to play because they don't have strong enough proof which, meanwhile, they will try to find."

Ms Sarumpaet and five of her supporters were sentenced to three months in jail for "sowing hatred against the Government" when they organised a People's Summit to oppose the re-election of former president Suharto in March. "The Government is not serious about establishing democracy. They are encountering a lot of problems they cannot solve, so they have returned to their old ways," Ms Sarumpaet said at her home in South Jakarta.