Akbar says charges against him political<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung denied on
\nWednesday all corruption charges stacked against him in a Rp 40
\nbillion (US$4.44 million) graft scandal, and called the case a
\nmaneuver to kill his political career.<\/p>\n
Akbar said the corruption charges amounted to character
\nassassination.<\/p>\n
\"It's not true that I conspired with others to cause losses to
\nthe state and spread lies in public. Those accusations clearly
\nattack my personality and are a form of character assassination,\"
\nAkbar, who is also the chairman of the Golkar party, told the
\nprosecution.<\/p>\n
He claimed that he did not abuse his power or attempt to
\nenrich himself as that would go against the trust given to him as
\na political figure.<\/p>\n
\"There's a systematic effort to put the blame on me and create
\nnegative public opinion against me through many forms and media,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Akbar is charged with misusing Rp 40 billion in nonbudgetary
\nfunds of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), which were supposed
\nto be allocated to provide food for the poor, when he was a
\nminister\/state secretary in 1999 under then president B.J.
\nHabibie.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Fachmi demanded last week that the court sentence
\nAkbar to a four-year jail term for masterminding the Bulog
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
Fachmi said that Akbar had not delivered Bulog funds to the
\nRaudlatul Jannah Islamic Foundation led by Dadang Sukandar, who
\nappointed Winfried Simatupang as the contractor for the
\ndistribution of food aid packages to the poor.<\/p>\n
Akbar's lawyer Amir Syamsuddin also said that Akbar was
\ninnocent of all charges and claimed that the prosecutor had made
\ninconsistent charges against his client.<\/p>\n
\"Initially, the prosecutor accused our client of delivering
\nthe funds to Dadang and Winfried. Now he says that our client
\nkept the funds for himself and that he conspired with Dadang and
\nWinfried that they had received the funds,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, Fachmi said later that the charges were consistent.<\/p>\n
Akbar is on trial with Raudlatul Jannah Foundation chief
\nDadang and Winfried.<\/p>\n
The judges are expected to give their final verdicts within
\nthe next one or two weeks.<\/p>\n
The Rp 40 billion Bulog fund scam, which allegedly involves
\nAkbar, emerged when the money was not used for a food security
\nprogram, but was allegedly channeled to the Golkar Party for its
\n1999 election campaign.<\/p>\n
Akbar previously made several inconsistent statements at his
\ntrial. At first, Akbar denied receiving the checks but later said
\nhe did.<\/p>\n
Several figures have lobbied to save Akbar and Golkar. The
\nlatest statement in support of Akbar came from the legal team of
\nformer Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan, who is also charged with
\ncorruption related to the Bulog scam in a separate trial.<\/p>\n
Rahardi's lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi told the Central
\nJakarta District Court that there a meeting was held on Oct. 2,
\n2001, in Muladi's house in Mayestik, South Jakarta. Muladi was
\nAkbar's successor as minister\/state secretary under Habibie's
\npresidency.<\/p>\n
Rahardi was asked to lie before the investigators from the
\nAttorney General's Office to cover up for Akbar's and the Golkar
\nparty's involvement.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's party, the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), allegedly made a
\nback room deal with Golkar, as many of its members this month
\nvoted not to set up a special House committee to investigate
\nAkbar.<\/p>\n
The House failed to establish the committee, leaving the
\nreform agenda against corruption in limbo.<\/p>\n
The same committee was formed last year to investigate former
\npresident Abdurrahman Wahid, who was eventually removed from
\noffice after he was accused of having received funds from Bulog
\nillegally.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/akbar-says-charges-against-him-political-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}