Bibit and Chandra brace for ‘sham’ trial

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 11/20/2009 9:31 AM  |  Headlines

As indictments may likely be prepared for the two accused antigraft figures, one of them said a trial was welcome to prove their innocence.

Deputies of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah, are both charged with extortion, bribery and abuse of power,  while investigating businessmen for alleged graft, in return for stopping their investigations.

A  Presidential fact-finding team reported indications of “fabrication” in the police investigation against both men, and urged that the charges be dropped.

Among other factors the “fact-finding team” had reported “suspicions of  legal mafia practices, as indicated by the wiretapping of the conversation between [businessman] Anggodo Widjojo and certain parties.”

 As of Thursday, however, police said the dossier for Bibit was almost ready and the Attorney General’s
Office had earlier said the indictment for Chandra was almost completed.  

“We will be ready for everything, as I know I am innocent,” Bibit said Thursday. “The court will prove the case is a sham.”

Bibit’s dossier is being re-examined by the police after the prosecutors handed it back to them.
AGO spokesman Didiek Darmanto had previously  said that among the missing pieces of supporting evidence was the identity of a suspected middleman, Yulianto.

Yulianto is only one of several suspected “brokers” in the case, the main fixer being suspected to be Anggodo, the brother of Anggoro Widjojo, a businessman the KPK was investigating.

Ahmad Rivai, a lawyer for the KPK deputies, said he still believed  the AGO would drop the cases.

Yulianto’s name was first mentioned by Ari Muladi, another suspected middleman in the alleged framing of the KPK deputies.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Sukarna said separately that the police had done everything  to find Yulianto but to no avail. Therefore Nanan said that the police were seeking “other ways” to support their charges  against the  KPK  deputies.

While law enforcers are continuing  legal proceedings against the deputies in spite of the team’s recommendations, the National Police chief also signaled that police were ignoring another recommendation made to the President — that he “punish officials responsible for the flawed legal process.”

During a hearing at the House of Representatives, Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri declared that “no one is stepping down,” in response to demands that his chief detective be dismissed.

Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji was temporarily relieved from his post as national detective chief while being questioned by the fact-finding team, but was reinstalled on Tuesday after the team submitted its report to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The team had raised “the potential of conflict of interest” in the investigations against the KPK deputies, “between Susno Duadji as an individual who was [among those] wiretapped by the KPK, and his post as the national chief detective.”

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