“I am surprised that I have been linked to this case. The allegations are not true. I did not even attend the voting,” Hidayat told The Jakarta Post.

Golkar politician Hamka Yandhu testified that Hidayat and other former Golkar lawmakers Nurdin Halid and Abdullah Zaini had received bribes in connection with the 2004 election of Miranda Swaray Goeltom as the central bank’s senior deputy governor at the Corruption Court on Tuesday.

Hidayat, however, told the Post that Hamka telephoned him on Tuesday evening to clarify that he never said anything about him taking bribes in court and that the media had distorted his testimony.

“He said he would issue a statement of clarification,” said the minister, who previously chaired the Indonesian Chamber of Trade and Industry.

Nurdin, now chairman of the Indonesian Soccer Association, said he had also spoken to Hamka and been told the same thing. “He denied having said that I received traveler’s checks and the truth is I never took any of them,” he told the Post.

In 2007, Nurdin was convicted over a cooking oil scandal. He was released in November 2008 after serving two-third of his jail term.

During Tuesday’s trial, Hamka said he cashed 10 checks worth Rp 500 million (US$55,500) for Abdullah and another ten for Nurdin.

“I cashed [the checks] through my account in Bank Mega in Makassar; 10 checks for Abdulah Zaini and 10 checks for Nurdin,” he said.

He also named Hidayat as among those who requested the checks be given in cash, though he did not reveal the amount.  

Hamka’s lawyer, Hidayat Surya, did not return numerous calls from the Post on Wednesday. It remains unclear whether Hamka would retract his statements.

The vote-buying case went to the court after months of investigation and against the backdrop of political wrangling between the ruling Democratic Party and its coalition partners, Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP), following a House inquiry into the government’s decision to bail out Bank Century in 2008.

The bribery case has implicated dozens of politicians from the three coalition parties that initiated the Century inquiry.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has only named four suspects in the case: Hamka, Dhudie Makmun Murod from the PDI-P, Udju Djuhaeri from the military and police faction and Endin A.J. Soefihara from the PPP.

During investigations and court hearings, the four politicians have repeatedly said they were not the only politicians taking bribes in return for their support for Miranda.  

The KPK has denied allegations that politics was a factor in its investigation into the case.

The politicians have said they were not the only ones taking bribes.

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