Councilor implicates colleagues in graft<\/p>\n
Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
One of two main suspects in a corruption case involving Jogja
\nExpo Center (JEC), Herman Abdurrahman, revealed here on Saturday
\nthat more than half of all local legislators were involved in the
\nscam and demanded they be charged along with him.<\/p>\n
Herman, who is chairman of the United Development Party (PPP)
\nfaction in the Yogyakarta provincial legislative council, was
\nspeaking to the media after being questioned for seven hours by
\nprosecutors.<\/p>\n
\"I will not let myself be the only suspect in the
\ncase. My testimony to the prosecutors will soon drag
\nother members of the legislative council into the same case,\" he
\nsaid, without elaborating further.<\/p>\n
Herman, who was accompanied by five lawyers, was questioned
\nfor the first time at the province's prosecutor's office on
\nSaturday in relation to the high-profile JEC scandal, after being
\nsummoned three times before to attend.<\/p>\n
Herman was named in February as one of two suspects in the Rp
\n150 million corruption scandal.<\/p>\n
In March, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno gave
\npermission for Herman to be summoned, which is required under the
\nprevailing law to question provincial legislators implicated in
\ncriminal cases.<\/p>\n
Another suspect was the director of Yogyakarta's state-run
\nconstruction firm PT Adhi Karya, Duljiman, who has been charged
\nwith giving Herman Rp 150 million in bribes for councillors in a
\nbid to support the project.<\/p>\n
The bribes were believed to have helped smooth the last
\ndisbursement of Rp 9 billion from the provincial administration
\nto the company involved in the JEC renovation project.<\/p>\n
The central government also partly financed the project, which
\ncost Rp 42.5 billion.<\/p>\n
Herman said that during the probe, prosecutors asked him about
\n\"decision-making procedures in the council\" in connection with
\nthe provincial administration's plan to build the JEC.<\/p>\n
\"I answered all the questions frankly, without hiding any
\nfacts,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Ranu Miharja, a spokesman for the local prosecutor's office,
\nsaid Herman also admitted negotiations had taken place between
\nseveral legislators, local officials and representatives from PT
\nAdhi Karya before the project had been approved.<\/p>\n
\"He was cooperative during the first session of questioning,\"
\nhe said, adding that Herman would be questioned again on Monday.<\/p>\n
Ranu underlined the questioning was aimed at finding out
\nwhether other legislators were also involved in the scandal or
\nnot.<\/p>\n
Bowing to public pressure, Herman admitted in late February
\nthat he had received a total of Rp 150 million from an unknown
\nsender in his Bank Bali account on Jan. 4 and Jan. 9.<\/p>\n
He claimed to have sent the money back to the sender's Bank
\nMandiri account on Jan. 15.<\/p>\n
However, the PPP investigation team discovered Herman had only
\nreturned the money a month later, on Feb. 15.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta provincial councillors have also been implicated in
\na separate political scandal involving Rp 1 billion over last
\nyear's vice gubernatorial election, in which Paku Alaman Palace
\nSultan Paku Alam IX defeated his step brother Prince
\nAnglingkusumo.<\/p>\n
They were also accused of taking bribes from both candidates,
\nprompting the prosecutor's office to investigate the case.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/councilor-implicates-colleagues-in-graft-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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