As the police focus their attention on a bribery case at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), there are fears that the murder case allegedly involving suspended KPK chief Antasari Azhar will go nowhere.
Antasari has been detained for the past four months as a suspect in the March 14 murder of Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, the then director of pharmaceutical company PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran. No indication has been given as to of when the case might go to trial.
While in detention, Antasari has given written testimony that a deputy chief of the KPK had accepted a bribe from Anggoro Widjojo, who is wanted by police. The National Police have investigated his claims, questioning several witnesses, including four KPK officials.
On Friday, detectives from the National Police questioned Antasari at Jakarta Police headquarters, Antasari's lawyer Juniver Girsang told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
"That was the second time he was questioned about the alleged bribery," he said.
Juniver acknowledged that in October last year, Antasari flew to Singapore to meet Anggoro, director of PT Masaro Radiokom, because he felt he needed to follow up on information he had that Widjojo had bribed several senior KPK officials.
"In the beginning Antasari just kept the information for himself, but then he felt he wanted to unveil Anggoro's case as the informant also said that Antasari had accepted some of the money. The informant said, *You've got the money, why do you keep investigating the case?'," Juniver said.
Antasari taped Widjojo saying he had bribed KPK officials.
On the recorded conversation, obtained by the Post, the voices of two other unidentified men can be heard.
"He *Toni* said that he had given the money to Pak Ade and Pak Jassin at a restaurant in Kuningan," Anggoro is heard saying on the recording, adding that he gave Rp 6 billion (US$600,000) to Toni, who alledgedly acted as a middle-man for the KPK.
Antasari is then heard expressing doubt about the bribery. "Pak Ade? Okay, lah. But Pak Jassin? Are you sure about that? Is it possible that it was someone else claiming to be Pak Jassin?" Antasari asks Anggoro.
Although no official statement has been made, speculation is rife that Anggoro was referring to the KPK's head of investigations, Ade Rahardja, and deputy KPK chief M. Jassin.
Anggoro then makes a phone-call, after which he tells Antasari that he would inform him later about whether it was really Jassin or not.
One of the two unidentified men on the recording says that Anggoro might give another Rp 6 billion to "secure" his case. "Pak Anggoro, you want to allocate another Rp 6 billion, right? So we have to make sure Pak Jassin has received the money, so we don't have to allocate for him anymore," the man says.
Juniver said he did not know who the two other man at the meeting were. "All the evidence obtained by my client in connection with the alleged bribery case has been handed over to the detectives."
As the police pursue the case, the murder case involving Antasari remains stuck going back and forth between the police and prosecutors.
Chief of the Jakarta Police, Insp. Gen. Wahyono, said last month that he believed prosecutors would follow up on the dossier of the murder case with the court as soon as possible. However, later in the month, prosecutors handed the dossier back to detectives, prompting the police to extend Antasari's detention period for the second time.
Detectives have since held further questioning sessions and reenact several scenes of the murder.
Antasari's other lawyer, Ari Yusuf Amir, said that he and his client had refused to sign the last questioning dossier or participate in the reenactments. "There are several pieces of information that my client refutes. For example, they said Antasari tempted Nasruddin's third wife, Rhani Juliani, prior to the murder. They also said that my client gave a picture of and information about Nasruddin to the men who executed the murder. My client didn't do those things," he said.
Spokesman for the city police, Sr. Comr. Chrysnanda Dwi Laksana, denied the murder case has taken a back seat to the bribery case. (bbs)
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