Convicted Akbar attends AIPO meet<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Hanoi<\/p>\n
Indonesian parliament speaker Akbar Tandjung was attending an
\nannual meeting of Southeast Asian legislators here on Monday
\ndespite his conviction last week on corruption charges.<\/p>\n
Akbar, 56, wearing a traditional Indonesian hat or kopiah,
\ntook his place among the 350 parliamentarians who gathered in
\nHanoi for the opening ceremony of the 23rd general assembly of
\nthe ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO).<\/p>\n
Despite being sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday
\nby a Jakarta district court for misusing some Rp 40 billion
\n(US$4.5 million) in state funds, no travel restrictions were
\nimposed on him.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who is also chairman of the former ruling Golkar Party,
\nremains free pending appeal.<\/p>\n
When asked whether he thought his participation in the AIPO
\nmeeting would devalue its legitimacy, he told AFP: "I do not want
\nto answer questions."<\/p>\n
AIPO is made up of the eight states with parliaments from the
\n10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Cambodia,
\nIndonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
\nand Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The annual session formally wraps up on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Late last week party elders agreed to maintain Akbar as Golkar
\nchairman, despite mounting calls for him to resign from the top
\npost of the parliament.<\/p>\n
Akbar insists he will remain parliamentary speaker and Golkar
\nchairman, saying he was appealing the verdict and until a
\ndecision on the appeal was taken, his sentence could not be
\nenforced.<\/p>\n
Leading Indonesian legislators have said they would propose
\nthe establishment of an honor council to fire Akbar if he refused
\nto resign voluntarily.<\/p>\n
The case against him concerns the Indonesian government's
\ndecision to allocate funds from the national food agency Bulog to
\nfeed poor villagers in 1999, following the 1997-98 regional
\nfinancial crisis.<\/p>\n
Akbar oversaw the program as cabinet secretary. He says he
\nappointed a foundation to arrange the food delivery, which in
\nturn appointed a contractor.<\/p>\n
However, there is no evidence any food was ever delivered.<\/p>\n
Some local media have alleged the money was diverted into
\nGolkar's election fund.<\/p>",
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