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Legislators to grill AGO over doubtful claims
The Attorney General’s Office enters its 50th anniversary facing scrutiny as the House of Representatives Commission III on justice and human rights says it will likely seek clarification on several claims it made
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he Attorney General’s Office enters its 50th anniversary facing scrutiny as the House of Representatives Commission III on justice and human rights says it will likely seek clarification on several claims it made.
One of the claims regards recorded telephone conversations between graft suspect Ari Muladi and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) enforcement deputy Insp. Gen. Ade Rahardja.
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji claimed on Nov. 9, 2009, that the AGO and the police had 64 phone conversation recordings between Ari and Ade.
The recordings were used as evidence to charge two KPK deputy chairmen, Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto, with bribery.
Previously, in November 2009, public anger mounted after a recording publicly played at the Constitutional Court allegedly revealed a conspiracy between the AGO, police and Anggodo Widjojo — the younger brother of graft fugitive Anggoro Widjojo — to frame Chandra and Bibit. Anggodo was later named a graft suspect.
However, at a court hearing Tuesday, police commissioner Farman testified under oath that there were no such recordings.
“We are scheduled to discuss this issue in our next hearing with the AGO,” House Commission deputy chairman Azis Syamsudin told The Jakarta Post on Thursday when asked about the contradiction between Hendarman’s claim and Farman’s testimony.
The commission plans to hold the hearing on July 29.
Commission member Nasir Djamil said Farman’s comments about the recordings being
non-existent was an “interesting development”.
“It means that there is someone who wants to protect Anggodo,” Nasir said at the House on Thursday.
The commission also plans to question Hendarman on an issue surrounding a graft case that implicates former justice and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra.
The graft case centers on an online service initiated and owned by the Justice and Human Rights
Ministry during Yusril’s tenure in 2001.
The website offered public services such as the issuance of notarized acts and the registration of permits.
The contract stipulated that the private company would receive 90 percent of the revenue from the site, and 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 the prosecutors said should have gone to state coffers.
Commission chairman Benny Kabur Harman from the Democratic Party said legislators wanted to clarify a statement from former Justice and Human Rights Ministry legal administration directorate general Romli Artasasmita.
Romli, who was sentenced for his role in the case, told a hearing at the House on Thursday that most of the evidence against him was fabricated.
“If what Romli said was true, the verdict against him was not justified,” Benny said.
“If the verdict was not justified, Romli would be another victim of the country’s legal system.”
