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Setya questioning needed to get crucial piece of evidence: AGO
Suspected: Then House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto speaking with his fellow lawmakers after a hearing on his alleged ethics breach case at the House ethics council in Jakarta on Dec
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Suspected: Then House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto speaking with his fellow lawmakers after a hearing on his alleged ethics breach case at the House ethics council in Jakarta on Dec.7. 2015. The Attorney Generalâs Office is set to question the Golkar Party politician on Wednesday about an alleged conspiracy related to a possible extension of gold and copper mining firm Freeport Indonesiaâs work contract. (thejakartapost.com/Wienda Parwitasari) (thejakartapost.com/Wienda Parwitasari)
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span class="inline inline-center">Suspected: Then House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto speaking with his fellow lawmakers after a hearing on his alleged ethics breach case at the House ethics council in Jakarta on Dec.7. 2015. The Attorney General's Office is set to question the Golkar Party politician on Wednesday about an alleged conspiracy related to a possible extension of gold and copper mining firm Freeport Indonesia's work contract. (thejakartapost.com/Wienda Parwitasari)
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has said it will use the second summoning of the former House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto on Wednesday to find more evidence of an ethics breach allegedly committed by the Golkar Party politician.
'We aim to get more evidence in the questioning. This is important for [our investigation into] the case so we will not act carelessly here,' he told journalists on the sidelines of a hearing at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday evening.
Setya is accused to have misused the names of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in an attempt to negotiate with US-based gold miner Freeport Indonesia over the possible extension of its Papuan mining contract. The former House speaker did not fulfil the first AGO summons on Jan.13, saying it was premature.
Setya's lawyer Firman Wijaya said at that time that the AGO was examining his client based on an audio recording the lawmaker's legal team deemed illegal. He was referring to hearings on Setya's case conducted by the House ethics council in December 2015, in which several council members called into a question the validity of the transcript and audio recording of a recorded conversation between Setya and Maroef Sjamsoeddin, who was then Freeport's president director, in a meeting in a Jakarta hotel on June 8, 2015, a meeting that was apparently attended by businessman Reza Chalid.
The meeting's audio recording and the transcript of it suggested that Setya had promised to facilitate the extension of Freeport's mining contract, which is to expire in 2021, provided that the company gave 11 percent of its shares to Jokowi and 9 percent to Kalla.
Prasetyo said Setya's questioning on Wednesday was needed to get more progress in the AGO investigation into the case, which was still in a preliminary phase.
On the meeting between Setya and Maroef and Reza, the AGO suspected a conspiracy aimed at extending Freeport's mining contract as soon as possible even though existing laws stipulate the contract could only be extended two years before its expiration.
It still cannot be confirmed whether Setya will fulfill the AGO summons.
Prasetyo said the AGO was not able to force Setya to attend. 'We will summon him again until he realizes that his presence is necessary,' he said. (ebf)(+)
