Councillors named as graft suspects<\/p>\n
Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
Surabaya Legislative Council speaker and his three deputies have
\nbeen declared suspects and are now being questioned by police
\ndetectives over their alleged role in the misappropriation of Rp
\n20 billion (US$2.15 million) in state funds.<\/p>\n
The investigation has been underway for the past month
\nfollowing reports from the local administration and internal
\naudit body the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).<\/p>\n
Chief of police detectives Adj. Sr. Comr. Sigit TH confirmed
\nthat he had questioned council speaker M. Basuki of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and
\ndeputy speakers Ali Burhan (National Awakening Party), Puji
\nAstuti (Indonesian Military\/National Police), and Herman Rivai
\n(National Mandate Party).<\/p>\n
\"We are now in the process of questioning 45 legislators as
\nwitnesses,\" Sigit said here on Friday.<\/p>\n
Interrogations revealed that the four leaders of the
\nlegislative council had forced the local administration to
\ndisburse the city's reserve funds and distributed the fund among
\nthemselves.<\/p>\n
There is no clear information on who got how much.<\/p>\n
The money was allocated for humanitarian aid as part of the
\ncity's contingency plan to deal with flood victims.<\/p>\n
Apart from the allegation that they siphoned funds from the
\ncity budget, the city councillors are also accused of
\nmisappropriating funds from the council's internal budget which
\nis supposed to be spent in emergency situations.<\/p>\n
\"The money is believed to have been shared among them,\" Sigit
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The misappropriation looked professional because the
\nlegislators concealed their move by issuing several decrees
\nincluding SK 03\/2002 on council financial affairs, SK 05\/2002 on
\nthe council's operational funds, and SK 09\/2002 on health and
\naccident insurance for councillors.<\/p>\n
The issuance of those decrees was done without consulting
\nfaction leaders.<\/p>\n
Based on the decrees, the councillors received Rp 1.2 billion
\nfrom the emergency fund, Rp 900 million from the transportation
\nallowance budget, and Rp 1.1 billion from the accident insurance
\nfund per month.<\/p>\n
They also disbursed the money, pretending that it would be
\nspent for human resource development.<\/p>\n
Basuki, the main suspect, said the graft charges were laid on
\nhim and his deputies as an act of political revenge by the city
\nadministration and city police.<\/p>\n
He insisted that the disbursement of the fund was done
\naccording to existing procedures.<\/p>\n
\"Please open up the case. I am also able to reveal the
\nmisconduct of the police and the city administration,\" he
\nthreatened.<\/p>\n
The city council dismissed Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono, Basuki's
\nrival in PDI Perjuangan, for failing to comply with the
\nlegislative body's request to revise his accountability report
\nand present it during a plenary session in August.<\/p>\n
Bambang emulated his predecessor Sunarto Sumoprawiro, who was
\ndismissed in February. But unlike Sunarto, Bambang received
\nsupport from the central government to stay in office.<\/p>\n
Basuki was dismissed by PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, for a disciplinary offense.<\/p>\n
A legislator who requested anonymity acknowledged that he once
\nreceived a monthly allowance from the council leaders. But, he
\nsaid, he did not know from where the money came from.<\/p>\n
\"All I know is that the legislative councillors issued the
\nregulations to benefit themselves,\" he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/councillors-named-as-graft-suspects-1447893297",
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