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AGO reports alleged bugging to police
Attorney General Basrief Arief has called on the National Police to launch a probe to reveal the individuals responsible for distributing the transcript of an alleged wiretapped telephone conversation between him and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri concerning a graft case
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ttorney General Basrief Arief has called on the National Police to launch a probe to reveal the individuals responsible for distributing the transcript of an alleged wiretapped telephone conversation between him and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri concerning a graft case.
In the purported conversation, Basrief allegedly assented to Megawati's request not to implicate PDI-P presidential candidate Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo in the graft-ridden Transjakarta bus procurement case, which is being handled by the Attorney General's Office (AGO).
In a media conference on Thursday, Basrief said that the alleged wiretapped conversation was the latest attempt to obstruct the procurement investigation.
'The wiretapped conversation is a fabrication, it is slander. This is the third attack directed at the AGO, especially at me. Today [Thursday], I sent a formal letter asking the National Police chief to investigate this case,' Basrief said.
In his letter, Basrief enclosed the letter along with copies of the so-called transcript from the head of activist group Progress 98, Faizal Assegaf, and the first report on the issue published by news portal inilah.com.
The document was first made public by Faizal on Wednesday, who claimed to have acquired the transcript from a confidant of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto.
Bambang denied Faizal's claim, saying that the antigraft body had never bugged such a conversation.
'The KPK works according to the law. In our system we always make sure that no information acquired from intercepted conversations is leaked to those who have no authority,' Bambang said.
The AGO suspects that the distribution of the alleged leaked conversation is politically motivated.
'It happens in a situation like this, when we should enjoy a good and calm situation ahead of the 2014 presidential election. [...] I urge all to build healthy democracy by not defaming each other,' he said.
The procurement of Transjakarta buses worth Rp 1.5 trillion (US$125 million) from China was initiated by the Jakarta city administration in 2013.
The AGO has named four suspects in the case, namely former Jakarta Transportation Agency head Udar Pristono, two senior officials at his agency ' Drajat Adhyaksa and Setyo Tuhu ' and a director at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), Prawoto.
The four stand accused of marking up the price of the buses.
Upon being named a suspect, Udar claimed that he had only followed Jokowi's instructions to carry out the procurement.
In the following month, a letter requesting the AGO postpone Jokowi's questioning went viral.
Later, another document circulated concerning Basrief's alleged request for prosecutors to delay summoning Jokowi.
