The 11-minute audio recording Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said submitted to the House of Representatives ethics council as the first piece of evidence as part of his report of an alleged ethics violation committed by House speaker Setya Novanto did not belong to Maroef Sjamsoeddin, the president director of gold and copper mining firm Freeport Indonesia, the hearing into the case revealed on Thursday.

Speaking as a witness against Setya at a hearing at the ethics council, Maroef said that at first, he had only given Sudirman a transcript of a suspected conversation between Setya and Maroef at a meeting, which was also attended by businessman Riza Chalid. The Freeport executive said he gave the transcript to Sudirman in July.

He made the statement in response to House ethics council member Akbar Faizal'€™s question about when Maroef gave Sudirman the audio recording the latter then used as evidence in his report against Setya at the council.

The conversation transcript Sudirman handed over to the House ethics council through his staffer, Said Didu, suggested that Setya promised to facilitate negotiations on the extension of Freeport'€™s mining contract, which expires in 2021 provided that Freeport gave 11 percent of shares in the mining company to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and 9 percent to Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Responding to Akbar'€™s question, Maroef said that only in October had he handed over to Sudirman the audio recording of his meeting with Setya and Riza.

Unlike the audio recording used as evidence, which lasted 11 minutes and 38 seconds, Maroef said, the audio recording he gave Sudirman in that month was one hour and 27 minutes long.

Sudirman handed over the longer version of the audio recording to the House ethics council on Wednesday, the first day of Setya'€™s case hearing, during which he gave his testimony as the reporter of the alleged ethics violation case.

House ethics council deputy chairman Junimart Girsang later asked Maroef about whether he knew that there was another audio recording, which was only 11 minutes and 38 seconds long.

"I have no idea [...]," Maroef replied.

The Freeport executive admitted that he had recorded his conversation with Setya and Riza through a mobile phone he had placed on the table. Therefore, he said, he was sure that his conversation partners were aware that he was recording their conversation.

Maroef was called as a witness in Thursday'€™s hearing, which was opened at1:35 p.m. and as of 8 p.m. is still going on. (ebf)

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