SBY guarded Kiemas against 'legendary corruption' suit

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been accused of protecting People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Taufik Kiemas from legal proceedings over what US diplomats described as “legendary corruption”.

The Taufik case was among several alleged scandals highlighted by Australian newspaper The Age in its front page story on Friday, which cited data from US diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks.

Soon after he became President in 2004, Yudhoyono intervened in the case of Taufik, the husband of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who led Indonesia between 2001 and 2004, the report says.

“Mr Taufik reportedly used his continuing control of his wife's Indonesian Democratic Party [of Struggle] … to broker protection from prosecution for what the US diplomats described as 'legendary corruption during his wife's tenure'”, The Age says.

It also cites US diplomatic reports as saying Yudhoyono “had personally instructed [then attorney general Hendarman Supandji] not to pursue a case against Taufik”, based on information from the US Embassy in Jakarta's top political informant, senior presidential advisor TB Silalahi.

The Presidential Palace in Jakarta has denied the legitimacy of any of the reports, which insinuate Yudhoyono's abuse of power, and has questioned the reliability of data from WikiLeaks.