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New details emerge about Bunda Putri's identity
Standing tall: Former chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, waits to take the stand during a graft trial hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday
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span class="caption">Standing tall: Former chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, waits to take the stand during a graft trial hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday. Luthfi's two wives, Sutiana Astika and Lusi Tiarani Agustin, testified on behalf of Luthfi at the hearing. JP/Nurhayati
New details have emerged regarding the identity of a powerful lobbyist, known as Bunda Putri, during a hearing in the graft trial of former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq.
Ridwan Hakim, the son of PKS chief patron Hilmi Aminuddin, said in his testimony that Bunda Putri was the wife of Hasanuddin Ibrahim, the current Agriculture Ministry's horticulture director general.
Ridwan delivered the statement after being bombarded with questions by the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court during the trial against Luthfi, who allegedly masterminded a scheme to rig a government-sponsored beef procurement project.
'I call him Pak Hasanuddin. He is the current director general of horticulture at the Agriculture Ministry,' Ridwan said in response to a question posed by presiding judge Gusrizal, who asked for the identity of Bunda Putri's husband.
Gusrizal appeared impatient with Ridwan throughout the trial session, especially with Ridwan's refusal to reveal the identity of the mysterious lobbyist.
'I don't want to talk about someone else's private family matters. Not to mention that the question has nothing to do with the beef import case,' Ridwan said in his defense.
He had earlier denied knowing anything about Bunda Putri.
Ridwan only answered after the judges threatened him with perjury.
'This is a public hearing; you are obliged to tell the truth,' Gusrizal told Ridwan in a raised voice.
Bunda Putri's name was first mentioned in testimony given by Ridwan, who served as an alleged go-between in the beef import scandal, during a trial session in September.
In the hearing, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors played a wiretapped phone conversation between Ridwan, Luthfi and a woman identified as Bunda Putri. During their conversation, Luthfi told Ridwan that 'Bunda had influence over decision makers'.
On Oct. 10, Hilmi also testified that he had consulted with the woman, who had some influence over decisions made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, especially regarding Cabinet reshuffles. Hilmi, however, denied that he had discussed beef import quotas with the lobbyist.
In his testimony, Ridwan also claimed that in spite of his relationship with Bunda Putri, he never attempted to influence any decisions made by her husband, Hasanuddin, including that of raising the quota for beef imports.
Ridwan also said that Ahmad Fathanah, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison last week for his role in the case, was not aware of Hasanuddin's ties with a woman called Bunda Putri.
Luthfi is accused of accepting bribes from meat import company PT Indoguna Utama to use his influence with his party colleague, Suswono, the agriculture minister, to increase beef import quotas.
Following Fathanah's conviction, experts said that Luthfi would likely be sentenced to a longer prison term given his primary role in the scandal.
Luthfi is charged under Article 12 of Law No. 31/1999 in reference to Law No. 20/2001 on corruption and Article 5 of Law No. 8/2010 on money laundering, which together could result in a total of a 20 years' imprisonment.
Besides playing a central role by allegedly instructing Fathanah to serve as a broker in the case, Luthfi could also receive a heavier sentence due to his position as a former leader of the PKS, which has long promoted itself as clean and free from graft.
Later on Monday, the KPK finally decided that it would appeal the 14-year jail term handed down to Fathanah.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that although the antigraft body was satisfied with the lengthy jail term, it could not accept that the judges had not punished Fathanah for accepting laundered money as stipulated in Article 5 of the Money Laundering Law. The article concerns passive money-laundering suspects.
'Our prosecutors believe this article should still be applied,' Johan said. (hrl)
