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Official promoted despite Gayus passport snafu
Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar promoted on Wednesday an immigration official whom he previously described as responsible for the issuance of a passport to graft suspect Gayus H
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aw and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar promoted on Wednesday an immigration official whom he previously described as responsible for the issuance of a passport to graft suspect Gayus H. Tambunan.
Despite the fact that he was detained in a maximum security police jail, with the passport, for which he paid a middleman US$100,000, Gayus traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Macau on separate occasions in September. He checked in at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at the diplomatic departure gate.
“He must receive a promotion based on his current position,” ministry spokesman Martua Batubara said when announcing the promotion of East Jakarta Immigration Office head Nasrul Ngabdimasa.
According to Martua, Nasrul’s promotion was part of the ministry’s regular employee rotation. He described Nasrun’s new position as the head of the sub-directorate for enforcement at the Ministry’s Directorate General of Immigration as “strategic”.
Meanwhile, lawyer Hotma Sitompul accused Judicial Mafia Taskforce member Denny Indrayana of frequently contacting Milana Anggraeni, Gayus’ wife. Denny has been active in informing the public about Gayus’ case, including uploading a copy of the controversial passport on Twitter. Denny acknowledged that he had been in contact with Gayus and Milana on a number of occasions as a part of his efforts to dig further into the tax scandal.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has set up an inter-ministerial team to investigate Gayus’ overseas trips. Meanwhile, Gayus’ visit to Bali to watch an international tennis competition remains shrouded in mystery.
The passport bearing the name Sony Laksono, which Gayus used to travel to Macau, Malaysia and Singapore, is the property of the East Jakarta Immigration Office. Patrialis has retracted his earlier statement that the East Jakarta office was responsible for the passport issuance.
Meanwhile, police have apprehended three suspects allegedly involved in the issuance of the falsified passport.
“We are currently questioning them,” National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said on Wednesday.
Besides apprehending the three, the police have questioned Milana, because she accompanied her husband on the trips.
“We are questioning Gayus’ wife to see if she helped him make a passport for his trips, which were indeed illegal,” National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said.
The police have also named Gayus a suspect in the falsification of the passport.
“Gayus Tambunan has been named a suspect as of today,” National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said as reported by tribunnews.com.
Meanwhile, legislators have organized a special committee to assist law enforcement agencies in revealing the “big fish” behind Gayus.
Legislator Benny K. Harman from the Democratic Party said that Tjatur Sapto Eddy would lead the committee, which aimed to collect information from those who might be related to the case by acting as the “puppeteers”.
Benny also clarified in an earlier comment that former National Police chief Gen. (ret.) Bambang Hendarso Danuri had said that “there is difficulty in resolving the Gayus Tambunan case because [there are worries] that it [the revelation] would rock the nation”.
