Prosecutors face grilling on bribes

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 03/24/2008 11:46 AM  |  National

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has issued a second summons to nine prosecutors for questioning in relation to a high-profile bribery case involving their colleague.

Spokesperson for the anti-graft body Johan Budi said Sunday the prosecutors would be grilled as witnesses because they had worked under prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan in the investigations into a Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support scandal involving business tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

The Attorney General's Office halted the probe Feb. 29 due to a lack of evidence. Two days later, KPK officials arrested Urip for allegedly receiving a US$660,000 bribe from businesswoman Artalita Suryani, who was linked with Sjamsul.

Johan identified the nine prosecutors as Amran Lakoni, Adi Triprabowo, Eko Hening Wardono, Hendro Dewanto, Yunita Arifin, Bima Suprayoga, Yoseph Wisnu Sigit, Alex Sumarno and Polin Sitanggang.

"We summoned them again after they failed to show up for scheduled questioning sessions last Monday and Tuesday," he said.

The prosecutors had told the KPK they did not receive the summonses, Johan said.

"This is just a technical problem," he said.

Both Urip and Artalita denied the bribery accusation, saying the money was for a gemstone business. Artalita, who claims to have known Urip for five years but was unaware he was a state prosecutor, said Urip asked for a loan to run his side business.

Urip has been detained at the Mobile Brigade Detention Center in Depok, while Artalita was being held at the Women's Detention Center in Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta.

Johan Budi said the KPK was investigating motives behind the bribe and other players who backed Urip.

"We have not yet found enough evidence to reveal reasons why Artalita gave the bribe and whether there was a conspiracy behind it," he said.

The KPK investigators questioned Operational Director of Bank International Indonesia (BII) Ari Fransiska (as a witness) for four and a half hours last week.

When asked if the KPK had traced Artalita's account at the private bank, and withdrawals of large sums of money she possibly made, Johan refused to comment.

"That is connected to the heart of the investigations," he said. (ewd)

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.