Akbar has yet to be declared a suspect: AG<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Prosecutors probing the 1999 graft scandal allegedly involving
\nthe Speaker of the House of Representatives, Akbar Tandjung, say
\nthey have yet to declare the former state secretary a suspect.<\/p>\n
\"We still have to examine (former president B.J.) Habibie's
\ntestimony, as well as other witnesses, as they gave such
\ncontradictory testimonies,\" prosecutor Manaf Djubaedi told
\nreporters on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Habibie said Pak Akbar had never made any report progress
\nover the project to him, while the later said he had made a
\nverbal report to Habibie,\" Manaf said.<\/p>\n
The case revolves around an instruction from Habibie to Akbar
\nprior to the June 1999 elections, to dispose of Rp 40 billion out
\nof Rp 54.6 billion for the poor using State Logistic Agency
\n(Bulog) funds.<\/p>\n
The two possible suspects have exchanged barbs over evidence
\nthis week.<\/p>\n
Manaf, however, refused to say whether he would summon Akbar,
\nwho is also the Golkar party chairman, for a third time in light
\nof Habibie's testimony, saying that the prosecutors would need to
\n\"further analyze\" the evidence.<\/p>\n
The main suspect in the case was Rahardi Ramelan who was the
\nhead of Bulog at that time. Akbar's possible involvement in the
\nscandal surfaced in October and he had made a number of
\ncontradictory statements about his involvement.<\/p>\n
Since then there have been mounting calls for him to resign as
\nHouse speaker.<\/p>\n
Manif, when asked whether the evidence might be adequate since
\nboth Habibie and Akbar had never referred to any 'written report'
\nabout the case, said: \"Let us make further analysis prior to
\nconcluding our investigation.\"<\/p>\n
Manaf, along with prosecutor Ahmad Santoso, spent two days
\nquestioning Habibie in Germany from Dec. 11 to 12. Habibie said
\nhe could not come home because he was tending his sick wife.<\/p>\n
A human rights activist has criticized the Attorney General's
\nOffice (AGO) for sending prosecutors to Germany.<\/p>\n
\"The one who is sick is his wife. Can't somebody tend her
\nwhile Habibie comes to Indonesia to explain about the Bulog
\ncase?\" Bambang Widjojanto, a former chairman of the Legal Aid
\nFoundation, was quoted by Kompas as saying.<\/p>\n
He said Habibie's wife's illness was a mere excuse and that
\nthe AGO had applied the law unequally.<\/p>\n
\"Is it because Habibie is a former president that the Office
\nopted to go to Germany to question him?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
Bambang said he wondered what would happen if anyone else
\nasked to be treated the same way.<\/p>\n
\"Should the Office reject such a request that would be
\ndiscrimination before the law,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bambang was also skeptical about the validity of the
\nquestioning.<\/p>\n
\"What if the testimony given by Habibie under oath was denied
\nby Akbar?\" he asked. \"That would jeopardize the whole legal
\nprocess to seek the truth.\"<\/p>\n
The case has implicated a number of top officials. During the
\nquestioning in Hamburg, Habibie reportedly admitted to issuing a
\nrecommendation to Akbar to use Rp 40 billion out of Rp 54.6
\nbillion for a food-for-the-poor program. The remaining Rp 10
\nbillion was used by former armed forces chief General Wiranto to
\nset up a civilian militia in East Timor. The remaining Rp 4.6
\nbillion was used for the cancellation of a land-swap deal between
\nHutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra's PT Goro Batara Sakti and Bulog.<\/p>\n
Like Haryono Suyono, the former coordinating minister for
\nsocial welfare and poverty, Habibie also said that he had never
\nheard of the Raudlatul Jannah Islamic Foundation, as well as its
\nchairman Dadang Sukandar.<\/p>\n
Akbar earlier claimed that Dadang had been the contractor who
\nhelped him distribute the food for the poor.<\/p>\n
Habibie said he had never received a report about the project
\nuntil he stepped down in August 1999, a statement supported by
\nformer minister of justice Muladi who replaced Akbar as state
\nsecretary in May 1999.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Attorney General M.A. Rachman said that the Office's
\nrandom check in several regions showed that such a project as
\nclaimed by Akbar had never taken place.<\/p>",
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