House law commission wants AGO to clarify on Yusril’s case

The House of Representatives Commission III on law and human rights plans to summon Attorney General Hendarman Supandji next week, to clarify issues surrounding a graft case implicating former law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

The graft case centers around an online service initiated and owned by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry during Yusril’s term in 2001. The service offered public services including the issuance of notarized acts and the registration of permits.

The ministry’s contract with the company that managed the online service stipulated that the company would receive 90 percent of the revenue from the site, and that the remainder would go to the ministry's cooperative.

Between April 2001 and November 2008, the service generated more than Rp 420 billion in access fees, which prosecutors said should have all gone to the state.

CDommission chairman Benny Kabur Harman from the Democratic Party said legislators wanted to clarify a statement from the ministry’s former legal administration director general, Romli Artasasmita.

During a hearing with the House on Thursday, Romli, who had been convicted for his involvement in the case, said most of the evidence against him had been fabricated.

“If what Romli said is true, then the verdict against him was incorrect,” Benny said.

“If the verdict was incorrect, then Romli is another [innocent] victim of Indonesia’s legal system,” he said.