Nazaruddin plans to turn tables using Yulianis testimony

A team of lawyers representing graft defendant and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin says they have a witness who will rebut the allegations aimed at their client.

Nazaruddin is accused of acting as a mastermind in a high-profile bribery case centering on a SEA Games facility construction project.

Ria Hoiriyah Irsyadi, one of the lawyers, confirmed on Tuesday that Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors were scheduled to present the financial director of Nazaruddin’s firm PT Permai Group, Yulianis, as a witness against her client before the Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday.

Yulianis, a key witness in the case, is the one who can explain Nazaruddin’s role in the firm, as well as his role in other similar companies owned by the businessman that were allegedly used as a proxy to bid for government projects that were then subcontracted to larger companies in exchange for money.

Yet, Ria said her team saw Yulianis as an opportunity to turn the tables on the prosecutors, saying that Yulianis could explain whether Nazaruddin had accepted the bribes, or not.

“We believed her testimony could refute any statement mentioning Nazaruddin’s involvement in the case,” she said.

Nazaruddin is charged with accepting Rp 4.3 billion (US$477,300) in bribes, in the form of checks, from Mohamad El Idris, an official of PT Duta Graha Indah (DGI), a company that won the SEA Games athletes’ village project commissioned by the Youth and Sports Ministry.

El Idris, who is currently serving a two-year prison term, has said in court that to win the project, Nazaruddin paid the bribes for Permai Group through Yulianis and his other alleged subordinate Oktarina Furi. However, he said he was not sure whether Nazaruddin owned the company. (mtq)