PLN corruption probe in no man's land

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 01/04/2007 2:32 PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police and prosecutors are still at odds over an investigation into state electricity firm president director Eddie Widiyono for graft allegedly worth Rp 122 billion (US$13.4 million).

The National Police maintain the case file on Eddie has been completed but the Attorney General's Office (AGO) says more work needs to be done before it can prosecute.

""The follow-up to this case is still unclear,"" Attorney General deputy head Hendarman Supandji said Wednesday.

The police delivered Eddie's case file to the AGO last July, but prosecutors refused to bring it to court, claiming it did not yet meet material requirements. The AGO has returned the file twice to police.

Prosecutors earlier said they did not find sufficient evidence in the file that Eddie had embezzled public money.

Under the 1999 Corruption Law, state officials can be charged with graft if there is evidence they have enriched themselves or others by their actions and caused losses to the state.

The police have charged Eddie with allegedly inflating costs for the Borang gas power plant project in Palembang, South Sumatra, by Rp 122 billion.

Hendarman said the AGO had repeatedly asked the police to revise the file but they had not responded.

""All the formal requirements have already been met, but they (police) have not met the material requirements (for evidence),"" he told detik.com.

He said prosecutors were waiting for a response from the police.

The two institutions earlier blamed each other for the release of Eddie in September after he served 120 days in police detention.

The Corruption Eradication Commission has said if police and prosecutors did not speed up the investigation into the case, it would take it over.

National Police chief Gen. Sutanto earlier voiced regret about the slow process in the case, while insisting police had strong evidence to bring Eddie to court.

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