VP backs legal action against prosecutor

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 03/19/2008 12:20 AM  |  Headlines

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday the dismissed deputy attorney general for special crimes, Kemas Yahya Rahman, deserved punishment for his possible link with a major bribery case.

Kalla said Kemas should be held responsible as the supervisor of state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, who was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe.

"As a supervisor, he must be held responsible," the Vice President said after chairing a limited Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta.

"The future implication is that any official, no matter who they are, will be sanctioned if he or she commits a crime."

Kalla said the public should view the dismissal of Kemas as the government getting tough on crime, without discrimination.

The Vice President was speaking a day after Kemas and M. Salim, who is the director of investigations at the Attorney General's Office, were removed from their posts over the Urip bribery case.

Their removal, announced by Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, follow the arrest of Urip on March 2 by investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Urip is being detained for allegedly receiving a US$660,000 bribe from businesswoman Artalita Suryani, who is thought to be connected to tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

Nursalim was the target of an AGO investigation, led by Urip, over his alleged embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity assistance (BLBI) funds.

The KPK is holding Artalita who has denied any links with Nursalim.

The graft body is seeking to establish a connection between the bribery case and the decision to drop the BLBI cases against Nursalim and another tycoon, Anthony Salim.

Urip led the investigation into both businessmen, while Kemas and Salim were the direct supervisors of the detained prosecutor.

Earlier Tuesday, the deputy attorney general for internal affairs, M.S. Rahardjo, said Kemas confessed to having met with Artalita at his office and making several phone calls to her.

"Pak Kemas has admitted to knowing Artalita.

"But we need to undertake further examinations to determine if the information can be used as legal evidence," Rahardjo told a news conference.

He said his office was waiting for a presidential decree to officially dismiss Kemas.

"He is still coming to the office pending a presidential decree."

Rahardjo, however, refused to provide a detailed reason for the dismissal of Kemas and Salim, saying the Attorney General's Office was waiting for the results of investigations by the KPK.

Kalla said the government would test several candidates to replace Kemas, but declined to provide names.

"We will pick his replacement soon because we know it is a crucial post for law enforcement in the country," the Vice President said.

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