T

he defense team of graft defendant Miranda S. Goeltom demanded that the Jakarta Corruption Court present the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Tjahjo Kumolo as a witness.

One of Miranda’s attorneys, Dodi S. Abdulkadir, said on Wednesday that Tjahjo played a key role in the bribery scandal as he had stated that Miranda promised to give Rp 300 million (US$31,800) to Rp 500 million for each vote in favor of Miranda during the selection of the deputy senior governor of the central bank in 2004.

“Agus Tjondro’s statement on Miranda’s plan to bribe the lawmakers — he heard that from Tjahyo,” he said.

Former PDI-P lawmaker Agus Condro Prayitno, who had been convicted in the bribery scandal, said that Tjahjo, the PDI-P secretary-general, told a member of his faction in an internal meeting that Miranda was willing to give each of them Rp 300 million in exchange for their vote.

Miranda said in a trial on Wednesday that she wanted to verify the statement with Tjahjo. “No one heard Tjahjo making the statement. Even Dhudie Makmur Murod, who also attended the meeting, didn’t hear that,” she said, referring to another lawmaker who had been convicted in the graft case.

More than 30 lawmakers, including three witnesses in Wednesday’s trial, Dhudie, a former lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP), Endin AJ Soefihara and former state development planning minister Paskah Suzetta, have been imprisoned for accepting bribes.

So far, ten lawmakers who have testified in the trial said that Miranda had nothing to do with traveler’s checks distributed to them or businesswoman Nunun Nurbaeti, who had distributed them.

Dhudie said in her testimony that neither Miranda or Nunun had talked with him about the election.

Dhudie added that he only met Ari, Nunun’s assistant, who brought the traveler’s checks to former PDI-P lawmaker Panda Nababan.

“I was just a member of the party. I didn’t ask anything about the order,” he said.

According to Dhudie, the checks were in an envelope containing 17 smaller envelopes with PDI-P lawmakers names on. “The one with my name had 10 traveler’s checks worth Rp 50 million each,” he said.

He said that he later gave the envelopes to Emir Moeis, the PDI-P faction leader at the House of Representatives Commission XI overseeing finance.

Endin, who met Ari at the Mulia hotel in South Jakarta, also said that he did not ask Ari why the traveler’s checks were given to him.

“I gave them to Daniel Tanjung to keep because I knew it wasn’t right,” he said, referring to a fellow lawmaker. Endin claimed that he later returned the money.

Endin added that he did not even vote for Miranda because he decided to toe the party line in the selection process. (cor)