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New suspect named in online scandal
State prosecutors have named a fresh suspect in an online graft scandal involving the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and repeated calls for the head of the company responsible for the website to submit to questioning
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State prosecutors have named a fresh suspect in an online graft scandal involving the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and repeated calls for the head of the company responsible for the website to submit to questioning.
Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said Tuesday former head of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry cooperative Ali Amran Djannah had been declared a suspect in the case as he signed a revenue sharing contract with the company, PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), despite knowing it was possibly illegal.
The deal is believed to have cost the state Rp 400 billion in losses.
Marwan said prosecutors acknowledged the fact Ali signed the deal under pressure from his superior, but it did not clear him of any wrongdoing.
"We would never blame someone who could not be held responsible for their actions. In this case, Ali signed the contract even though he knew it would be problematic and he could have refused," Marwan said.
Prosecutors will charge Ali with profiteering from a crime.
According to the Attorney General's Office (AGO), the contract was signed on Nov. 8, 2000 between Ali and SRD president director Yohanes Woworuntu, also a suspect in the case.
In his testimony, Ali admitted knowing the contract was suspicious and recommended that his superior revise it as a result. Ali, Marwan said, argued there was no legal basis for a cooperative to work with a private company in establishing such an administration system, which should really have been conducted by a directorate general.
Ali's superior, whom Marwan refused to identify, challenged the argument and forced Ali to sign the contract.
The prosecutors have named former director general for public legal administration Romli Atmasasmita and his successors Syamsuddin Manan Sinaga and Zulkarnain Yunus suspects in the graft case.
The AGO accuses them of embezzling money generated from the online system www.sisminbakum.com, which since 2001 had allowed legal entities to register for permits and nominate notaries. According to the AGO, the system generated up to Rp 9 billion per month from the services, the majority of which went to individuals instead of state coffers as non-tax revenue.
Under the contract, SRD received 90 percent of the system's total revenue while the rest went to the ministry's officials.
Like Ali, Yohanes said earlier he signed the contract on behalf of SRD under pressure from his superiors Hary Tanoesoedibjo and Hartono Tanoesoedibjo, who partly own SRD.
Both Hary and Hartono are commissioners of PT Bhakti Investama that own several media outlets in the country, including private TV stations RCTI, Global TV and TPI.
Hartono failed to appear at the AGO on Tuesday for his second questioning session. Marwan said Hartono's repeated refusal to appear for questioning had hampered the AGO investigation into the case.
"Hartono said due to the holiday period he could not appear for questioning, which is a very unclear reason," Marwan said, adding prosecutors would resort to using force if Hartono continued to resist.
Marwan said Hartono had appeared for the first questioning after shunning prosecutors summons three times.
