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Three newly elected regional heads named graft suspects
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Voters sporting superhero costumes pose for a photo at a polling station in Larangan Gayam village in Sukoharjo, Central Java, on June 27. (JP/Maksum Nur Fauzan)
The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) has said three recently elected regional leaders have been named graft suspects.
The ICW said Biak Numfor deputy regent-elect Nehemia Wospakrik was first declared a suspect in 2011 by the Biak Numfor Police in Papua.
“This case is special as there have been no reports in the media about him being declared a suspect. We only found out after receiving complaints from local residents,” ICW researcher Almas Sjafrina said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.
Nehemia was implicated in graft involving official trip funding when he served as the Biak Numfor Legislative Council speaker from 2004-2014.
However, eight years after being named a suspect, it seems the police have not made any progress in their investigation into the case. In a corruption case in which the minimum sentence is more than three years, a suspect status lasts for 12 years before it expires.
Nehemia ran for office in the 2014 elections and became the deputy speaker for the 2014-2019 period. He and his running mate, Herry Aryo Naap, later won the 2018 regional election and will be inaugurated in October.
The 2016 Regional Elections Law allows those with a suspect status to be inaugurated.
Previously, the ICW found that Tulungagung regent-elect Syahri Mulyo and North Maluku governor-elect Ahmad Hidayat Mus had also been named suspects by the Corruption Eradication Commission. (ris)
