Ginandjar still on sick leave in hospital<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office had still not
\narrested former minister of mines and energy Ginandjar
\nKartasasmita by late Friday night, because it had not received
\nofficial military approval, despite an order from President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid demanding detention of the suspect.<\/p>\n
The office spokesman Muljohardjo said that Ginandjar, a
\nsuspect in a corruption case, had not been arrested and detained,
\n\"pending coordination with the military chief\".<\/p>\n
\"We have issued the letter of detention, but we have not been
\nable to execute it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Friday, President Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid said
\nthat he had ordered Military chief Adm. Widodo A.S. to allow the
\narrest of Ginandjar.<\/p>\n
\"I have ordered the Military chief Pak Widodo to immediately
\nissue a permit for the arrest of Pak Ginandjar. As for the
\nothers, just be patient,\" he said after the Friday prayer in Ki
\nAgeng Muhammad Besari mosque in Ponorogo.<\/p>\n
The President recently said that he had given Attorney General
\nMarzuki Darusman until the end of the month to detain \"three
\nimportant people\".<\/p>\n
Before the Friday prayer, in a public dialog with local
\nfarmers, he said that Ginandjar should be arrested soon.<\/p>\n
\"I can't stay long here in Ponorogo because I have important
\nwork in Jakarta. That is, Pak Ginandjar must be arrested soon.<\/p>\n
\"On my way here, I received a call from Jakarta. The Attorney
\nGeneral said that today he had issued the arrest order, but he
\n(Ginandjar) is sick. I said, just wait in the hospital until he
\nrecovers,\" the President recounted, followed by applause from the
\ngathering.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar, a retired Air Force three-star general, who is now
\na deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, is
\nbelieved to have been involved in a graft case involving state
\noil and gas company Pertamina and PT Ustraindo Petro Gas,
\nresulting in losses to the state amounting to US$24.8 million.<\/p>\n
On Thursday Ginandjar evaded questioning at the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office, claiming he was sick, and was later admitted to
\nthe Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta. Doctors said he must
\nstay in the hospital for at least five days, but refused to
\nreveal details of the illness.<\/p>\n
His room was tightly guarded by several military police
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Akbar Tandjung, House speaker and chairman of the
\nGolkar Party, said he had no objections to the planned detention
\nof Ginandjar, provided it were conducted in line with correct
\nlegal procedures.<\/p>\n
\"No citizens are immune from the law. Principally, I have no
\nobjection to the planned detention of Ginandjar, but it must be
\nconducted in accordance with the existing procedures.<\/p>\n
\"I have become confused with the planned arrest of Ginandjar
\nbecause of the fast change in the latter's status from a witness
\nto a suspect in the case. How fast is the process! I think it is
\nagainst the existing procedures,\" he said here on Friday.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, after turning down several summonses issued by the
\nAttorney General's Office, Ginandjar appeared for questioning as
\na witness in the investigation of several other suspects in the
\nscandal. Those suspects are his successor Ida Bagus Sudjana,
\nformer Pertamina president Faisal Abda'oe, and PT Ustraindo
\ndirector Praptono H. Upojo.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month Abda'oe was held in an Attorney General's
\nOffice detention cell, but as of Thursday he has been placed
\nunder house arrest.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Ginandjar was again summoned for questioning in
\nhis capacity as a witness, but the session was halted after he
\nclaimed that he was sick. Ginandjar, accompanied by lawyers
\nMuchyar Yara, O.C. Kaligis and Mohammad Assegaf, refused
\nexamination by a doctor at the Attorney General's Office and
\ninsisted on leaving despite the prosecutor's objection.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, he was summoned as a suspect but failed to appear
\ndue to his hospitalization.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar's lawyers said the Attorney General's Office had no
\nright to question him as a suspect because he was still active in
\nthe military during the period in question, the early and mid-
\n1990s. They argued that the case should be handled by a joint
\nteam of investigators involving the military.<\/p>\n
Marzuki Darusman boasted on Wednesday that he had secured a
\npermit from Indonesian Military Commander Admiral Widodo to
\ninvestigate the suspect that day. (nur\/rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ginandjar-still-on-sick-leave-in-hospital-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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