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Soekarwo says he is ready to face KPK on alleged bribery
East Java Governor Soekarwo says he is ready to face questioning by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over allegations of bribery relating to an East Java election dispute at the Constitutional Court
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ast Java Governor Soekarwo says he is ready to face questioning by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over allegations of bribery relating to an East Java election dispute at the Constitutional Court.
Soekarwo was accused of paying former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar Rp 10 billion (US$830,000) in bribes in exchange for a favorable ruling.
'All Indonesians must be ready if they are asked to undergo questioning,' Soekarwo said after a coordination meeting at the Attorney General's Office (AGO) in Jakarta on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Soekarwo denied that there had been a discussion over his plan to bribe Akil via Zainudin Amali, the head of the Golkar Party's East Java chapter, who also led his campaign team.
However, the East Java governor admitted that there had been a meeting with Zainudin at the East Java administration's office on Jl. Pasuruan, Central Jakarta, at 11 a.m. local time on Oct. 2, 2013.
'I didn't give anyone any money. At the meeting, Pak Zainuddin just told me that the election had gone terribly. But, what was terrible? All 71,026 witnesses had signed the election results. It was all clean and fair,' Soekarwo said.
He claimed he only found out about Akil's request for the Rp 10 billion in bribe money via media publications four days ago.
'I printed the articles. Journalists in East Java also asked to interview me. I was then told by the journalists that Pak Akil had asked me to give him Rp 10 billion if I wanted to win the East Java gubernatorial election,' he said.
Akil was accused of asking for bribes to rule in favor of incumbent candidates Soekarwo and Saifullah Yusuf via their campaign team head, Zainuddin, just one day before the KPK arrested Akil on Oct. 2 last year.
According to Zainuddin, Soekarwo-Saifullah may have lost the election dispute against Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Herman S.Sumawiredja if they had not provided the money. (ebf)
