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House'€™s ethics council denies bribery offer in Setya case

Holding on: The House of Representatives’ ethics council says it is still examining the legality of a report submitted to the council by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said against House Speaker Setya Novanto (pictured) for allegedly misusing the names of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla and attempting to trade government favors for shares in gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Fri, November 27, 2015

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House'€™s ethics council denies bribery offer in Setya case

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span class="inline inline-center">Holding on: The House of Representatives'€™ ethics council says it is still examining the legality of a report submitted to the council by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said against House Speaker Setya Novanto (pictured) for allegedly misusing the names of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla and attempting to trade government favors for shares in gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia. (Kompas/Dany Permana)

The House of Representatives'€™ ethics council deputy chairman Junimart Girsang has denied allegations that bribes of up to US$2 million had been offered to support House Speaker Setya Novanto, who is being investigated by the council for alleged misconduct.

'€œNo, I never received a bribe.  A friend told me: '€˜please help.'€™ I told him: '€˜Just wait until the hearing. He [Setya] can defend himself there'€™,'€ Junimart said in Jakarta on Friday as quoted by tempo.co.

According to the lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), he did not only receive such a request for help in the Setya case, but such requests had also come from other lawmakers investigated by the council.

'€œMany of them ask about the progress of cases. I just explain to them what I can explain,'€ he added.

As reported earlier, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said reported Setya to the ethics council last week for allegedly claiming to have won the approval of President Joko '€œJokowi'€œ Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to secure shares and projects from PT Freeport Indonesia in exchange for helping the company extend its contract to continue operating its gold mine, one the world'€™s largest, in Papua.

The council is scheduled to kick off the open-door hearing to listen to testimony from relevant parties in the case.

Leaders of the opposition Red-and-White Coalition (KMP) met at the home of Gerindra Party patron Prabowo Subianto in Bogor, West Java, recently. They expressed their support for Setya, claiming that the Sudirman'€™s report was politically motivated.

Meanwhile, more than 100 public figures on Friday threw their support behind the ethics council to continue the hearings and disclose the motives behind several meetings between Setya and Freeport representatives.

Among the figures are former lawmaker Lyly Wahid, former finance minister Fuad Bawazier and a number of retired generals, such as Gen. (ret.) Djoko Santoso, Maj. Gen. (ret.) TB Hasanudin, Maj. Gen. Prijanto, as well as former Muahammadiyah chairman Din Syamsudin. They met with Junimart in Jakarta on Friday. (bbn)(+)

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