Former ministers testify in Goro corruption scandal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad and
\nformer state minister\/state secretary Moerdiono testified on
\nFriday in the Goro corruption case at the South Jakarta District
\nCourt.<\/p>\n
Dressed in a green batik shirt and dark trousers, Mar'ie,
\nknown as \"Mr. Clean\", appeared nervous when delivering his
\ntestimony.<\/p>\n
He apologized to the court for his anxiousness.<\/p>\n
\"I'm sorry your Honor, as it is my first time giving
\ntestimony. It was my first time diginiin (to be treated like this
\ntime),\" Mar'ie said, after presiding judge Jalius Amin told him
\nto relax.<\/p>\n
During the session, Mar'ie, who chairs an independent
\ncorruption watch body, the Indonesian Transparency Society,
\nrepeatedly prompted smiles and laughter from the judges,
\nprosecutor, lawyers and spectators.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono's appearance also triggered laughter, especially
\nwhen he asked the presiding judge's permission to shake hands
\nwith the judges and lawyers.<\/p>\n
\"Am I allowed to shake hands with the judges... and the
\nlawyers?\" he asked in his characteristic slow manner before
\nleaving the courtroom.<\/p>\n
The two were appointed Cabinet ministers by former president
\nSoeharto, whose son was named a suspect in the corruption scandal
\nwhich has inflicted losses estimated at Rp 95 billion to the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
Mar'ie testified that an exchange land deal between the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) and a wholesale firm PT Goro Batara
\nSakti was not conducted through an open tender, as the firm had
\nbeen appointed by then president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"Of course the president's appointment was higher than a
\nministerial decree,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said a finance ministerial decree required a land exchange
\ndeal worth more than 10 billion to be carried out through an open
\ntender with presidential approval.<\/p>\n
\"I did not approve the land exchange deal. I just passed on
\nBulog's proposal to the State Secretariat to obtain approval,
\nsince Bulog said the deal was approved by the president.\"<\/p>\n
The indictment statement said Goro's former president, Ricardo
\nGelael, along with Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala
\nPutra, Goro's former president commissioner, and Bulog's former
\nchief Beddu Amang, were charged with corruption of Rp 95 billion
\nin the land exchange deal.<\/p>\n
Tommy was tried in a separate courtroom on Friday, while
\nBeddu's indictment was dropped by the court. President B.J.
\nHabibie refused the prosecutor permission for Beddu, who is a
\nmember of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), to be
\nquestioned.<\/p>\n
Mar'ie said he did not know whether the deal had caused state
\nlosses.<\/p>\n
He said he did not know or have any relationship with the
\ndefendant, Ricardo.<\/p>\n
\"I just know Ricardo here and now (in the courtroom). Maybe we
\nmet at a wedding party. I don't remember. But, I could say here
\nthat we (his ministry) never contacted private companies for any
\ndeals.\"<\/p>\n
He said he knew Bulog exchanged its 50-hectare warehouse
\ncomplex in Kelapa Gading for some 150-hectares of land in
\nMarunda. Both areas are located in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"But I did not know details of the deal. I just knew about the
\nadministrative process at the beginning of the deal.\"<\/p>\n
Moerdiono's testimony was marked by a consistent inability to
\nrecollect events surrounding the exchange. To prosecutor D.
\nMunthe he repeatedly replied: \"Sorry, I forget.\"<\/p>\n
But when Munthe showed Moerdiono a memorandum from Beddu which
\nstated that the land deal had been discussed with Soeharto and
\nMoerdiono, the former minister acknowledged the discussion.<\/p>\n
\"But I don't remember if Ricardo or Tommy had visited me to
\ndiscuss the exchange deal. It should be checked in the guest book
\nat the State Secretariat.\"<\/p>\n
He said the president, through the State Secretariat, approved
\nthe land exchange deal based on a suggestion from the finance
\nminister Mar'ie.<\/p>\n
But Moerdiono acknowledged that final responsibility for such
\na deal was with the president.<\/p>\n
More witnesses are set to provide testimonies on Wednesday in
\nthe corruption case.(jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/former-ministers-testify-in-goro-corruption-scandal-1447893297",
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