Economist declared suspect in defamation case<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Well-known economist Dradjat Wibowo was questioned on Monday as a
\nsuspect in a defamation case filed by Adrian Waworuntu, a former
\nmain suspect in a Rp 1.7 trillion Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
Dradjat, who will be sworn in as a House of Representatives
\n(DPR) member on Oct. 11, complained, however, that police were
\ntoo quick to declare him a suspect without examining the content
\nof the news used as a basis by Adrian to file the complaint.<\/p>\n
Adrian, who was released from police detention due to lack of
\nevidence to implicate him in the Rp 1.7 trillion scandal, had
\nreported Dradjat to the police for allegedly suggesting that he
\nalso took money from BNI Magelang, Central Java branch.<\/p>\n
\"I never said that Adrian was involved in the scandal. The
\nreport of Tempo daily in its Jan. 14 edition, which is being used
\nas a basis for the report, also did not quote me as saying so,\"
\nsaid Dradjat.<\/p>\n
The economist, who ran under the National Mandate Party (PAN)
\nin the April 5 legislative election, filed a counter lawsuit
\nagainst Adrian for alleged defamation and a false report.<\/p>\n
Adrian reported Dradjat to police on Feb. 3 when he was still
\nin police detention for his alleged role in the BNI Kebayoran
\nBaru case. Police released him later after they failed to find
\nstrong evidence to implicate him in the scandal.<\/p>\n
Several businesspeople from the Gramarindo and Petindo Groups,
\nincluding Adrian, were accused of embezzling Rp 1.7 trillion from
\nthe country's second-largest bank in 2003 by using letters of
\ncredit from correspondent banks in Congo and Kenya to withdraw
\nmoney from BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch.<\/p>\n
The letters of credit turned out to be fake, causing the state
\nbank to suffer losses of Rp 1.7 trillion. Police have named 17
\nsuspects from BNI, Gramarindo and Petindo. Seven of them are
\nbeing tried in the South Jakarta court. However, the main
\nsuspect, Maria Pauline Lumowa, managed to escape the country.<\/p>\n
Dradjat also questioned the fact that Adrian could file a
\nreport against him while he was in police detention.<\/p>\n
\"On February 3, Adrian was still in detention. How could he
\nfile a report if he was in police custody? Why did the police pay
\nso much attention to such a report when they have many more
\nimportant things to do?\" he wondered.<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman said police were
\nnow examining the case to determine what they would do next.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/economist-declared-suspect-in-defamation-case-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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