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Firm claims innocence in corruption case
Private company PT Sarana Rektama Dinamika (SRD) has claimed its alleged involvement in a corruption case at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry is entirely the result of government mismanagement
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Private company PT Sarana Rektama Dinamika (SRD) has claimed its alleged involvement in a corruption case at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry is entirely the result of government mismanagement.
SRD, the ministry's business partner in an online administration system, has been implicated in the case following claims by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) that it embezzled Rp 400 billion (US$36.04 million) generated from the system. Prosecutors claim the money should have gone to state coffers as non-tax revenue.
SRD lawyer Hotma Sitompoel said it would be absurd to claim the company was guilty based on the definition of funding, which differed between government bodies and was now causing legal conflicts.
"The problem here is clearly mismanagement within the government. When the system started in 2001, the status (of the finances) was never an issue. Only in 2006 when talks between the justice ministry and the finance ministry began was their any suggestion the money needed to be categorized as non-tax revenue," he said in Jakarta on Monday.
"The government has not yet ruled (on the definitions) in any decree until now. Thus, there is no legal basis to charge our client," he said.
Another SRD lawyer Andi Simangunsong said it would be ridiculous to accuse the business of any wrongdoing as the contract for the online system, accessible at www.sisminbakum.com, was signed by then Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra on behalf of the government.
"The contract was signed by the justice minister, who is supposed to understand regulations and legal issues better than anybody else within the government," he said.
"If the incumbent minister had a different stance to his predecessor, then it would be their problem and should not involve our client," Andi added.
The AGO earlier grilled Yusril over his role in signing two agreements in 2000, one appointing SRD as the system's operator and another on the partnership between SRD and the ministry's cooperatives unit.
Under the contract, SRD received 85 to 90 percent of the system's total revenue, while the rest went to ministry officials.
SRD lawyers also rejected the prosecutors' moves to detain president director Yohanes Woworuntu and issue a travel ban on the company's part-owner Hartono Tanoesoedibjo. Hartono is also a commissioner of PT Bhakti Investama which owns several media outlets in the country, including private TV stations RCTI, Global TV and TPI.
"We already asked the AGO to shift Yohanes's status from suspect to witness. The AGO should not detain anyone like that or psychologically pressure them to prove that person guilty," Hotma said, adding he had also asked the AGO lift the travel ban on Hartono.
