Habibie receives ICW delegation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie directly received on
\nThursday all necessary documents from Indonesian Corruption Watch
\n(ICW) executive coordinator Teten Masduki to back up the latter's
\nallegations that Attorney General Lt. Gen. Andi M. Ghalib abused
\nhis power to enrich himself.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists after his meeting with the President
\nat Merdeka Palace, Teten said he urged the President to discharge
\nthe attorney general from Cabinet for the power abuses he had
\ncommitted.<\/p>\n
Teten said he also informed the President on Ghalib's threats,
\nfollowing disclosure of the attorney general's bank accounts and
\ndeposits.<\/p>\n
\"He asked me to remain patient against the threat and to sleep
\nwell because tomorrow he would meet with several related
\nministers,\" Teten pointed out.<\/p>\n
The attorney general boasted on Wednesday of chasing the
\nlawyer, whom he called an animal, all the way to the grave. He
\nalso vowed to commit siri for dignity's sake of being a Bugis
\nman.<\/p>\n
According to Bugis tradition, a man will take revenge for a
\nhumiliation of his self-respect. The form of revenge is often
\nrealized in murder.<\/p>\n
Habibie, also a Bugis, told him that he would consult with
\nseveral ministers on Friday, including Coordinating Minister for
\nDevelopment Supervision and State Apparatus Reforms Hartarto and
\nMinister of Justice Muladi, before making any decision to follow
\nup the report on Ghalib.<\/p>\n
\"Then a measure will be taken in accordance with the law,\"
\nTeten quoted the President as promising.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Habibie was accompanied by Muladi, while
\nTeten was accompanied by 13 colleagues, including Bambang
\nWidjojanto, Chusnul Mariah and Agus Purnomo.<\/p>\n
\"Before the discussion, we asked the President whether he
\nwould receive Teten as an animal or a human being,\" Agus joked.<\/p>\n
Muladi said the President would summon Ghalib on Thursday
\nevening.<\/p>\n
The meeting was delayed one hour from the original schedule of
\n3 p.m. because Habibie met first with Supreme Advisory Council
\n(DPA) Chairman A.A. Baramuli.<\/p>\n
The President thanked ICW for the documents and said it was
\nthe first detailed document he received on the Ghalib case.<\/p>\n
The document comprises copies of 14 banks accounts and four
\ntime deposits, which totals Rp 13 billion from August to May. On
\nJune 1 the amount decreased to about Rp 9 billion. Four of the
\naccounts and one of the deposits are owned by his wife Murniati.<\/p>\n
\"There is a transfer of Rp 2.5 billion in one day alone, and
\nthen Rp 900 million,\" Teten said, and added many transfers
\noccurred during the days where the Attorney General's Office
\nquestioned several problematic bankers.<\/p>\n
According to Teten, Habibie did not directly respond to ICW's
\ndemand for Ghalib's sacking, but promised to seriously look into
\nthe report. He assured his guests that he would take all
\nnecessary measures to enforce the law.<\/p>\n
Habibie agreed with Ghalib's decision to bring the case to
\ncourt, said Teten, who then told the President the attorney
\ngeneral should be removed from Cabinet to enable him to have an
\nequal position against Ghalib in court.<\/p>\n
\"The President agreed that the legal process be continued in
\ncourt and I am ready for it,\" said the lawyer.<\/p>\n
Ghalib is the most controversial in Habibie's 36-strong
\ncabinet. On June 1, the University of Indonesia Students'
\nExecutive Body declared Ghalib the winner of the \"Soeharto Award\"
\nafter topping a list of anti-reform figures in the country.<\/p>\n
When his telephone conversation with Habibie on former
\npresident Soeharto's investigation was leaked, he stubbornly said
\nthat he doubted the authenticity of the conversation although
\nHabibie had confirmed it.<\/p>\n
Teten himself pledged that ICW would continue its
\nanticorruption campaigns. It would soon reveal irregularities at
\nstate-owned social security firm PT Jamsostek.<\/p>\n
His office has also received about 2,000 reports from the
\npublic, although he acknowledged many of them were not supported
\nwith strong evidence.<\/p>\n
\"But some of them are backed with very accurate evidence,\" he
\nhinted.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Teten and Bambang lodged a criminal lawsuit for
\nhumiliation against Ghalib at the National Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
\"What Ghalib has said is not supposed to come out of a high-
\nranking official like him,\" Teten told reporters.<\/p>\n
Teten also said that Ghalib alleged he was part of a
\nconspiracy to destroy the attorney general's reputation in
\nrelation with his effort to probe corruption, collusion and
\nnepotism cases, recently handled by the Attorney General's
\nOffice.<\/p>\n
As a public official, he should be transparent and should not
\nbe secretive so the public can check, Teten said, adding: \"There
\nshould be transparency and accountability.\"<\/p>\n
In a related development, Ghalib arrived at the Jakarta Police
\nHeadquarters in South Jakarta to tell his version, following a
\ncriminal lawsuit report made on Monday by his lawyers.<\/p>\n
Arriving in a green metallic land cruiser van, Ghalib was
\nguarded securely by plainclothes military bodyguards and only
\ngave a thumbs-up sign to reporters.<\/p>\n
Ghalib went directly to city police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho
\nDjajoesman's room and spent at least two hours there.<\/p>\n
\"I report to police about the defamation, slander and any kind
\nof deeds against me both as personal and a state official done by
\nSaudara Teten and Bambang Widjojanto,\" he told reporters after
\nthe meeting.<\/p>\n
The country is ruled under law and everybody is treated
\nequally before the law, he said, adding that he had to come down
\nto the police to get his rights protected.<\/p>\n
Ghalib, however, refused to answer any questions at all and
\nthe bodyguards protected him from journalists and photographers.
\n(prb\/emf)<\/p>",
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