Hamid denies involvement in KPU scandal<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin denied
\nallegations that he had received kickbacks collected from private
\nsector firms when he was still a serving member of the General
\nElections Commission (KPU).<\/p>\n
Appearing for the first time in the Anticorruption Court as a
\nwitness in the trial of graft suspect Hamdani Amin, the head of
\nthe KPU finance department, the minister insisted that he had no
\nknowledge about the kickbacks being collected by the defendant,
\nbut admitted that when he was a member of the KPU from May 2001
\nuntil October 2004, he received annual bonuses and lump-sum
\npayments for overseas trips.<\/p>\n
"Once I received Rp 12 million (about US$1,194) from the
\ndefendant as an annual bonus and US$3,500 as a lump-sum payment
\nfor an overseas trip. There was nothing else," said Hamid, who
\nwas appointed to the current Cabinet late last year and has
\nplayed a key role in cementing a peace deal between the
\ngovernment and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
The high profile graft case at the KPU, which first surfaced
\nin April, centers on, among other allegation, the mark-up of
\ncosts during the holding of last year's general elections, and the
\ncollection of kickbacks by KPU officials from private sector
\nfirms that won contracts from the commission.<\/p>\n
Aside from Hamdani, other KPU commissioners and officials,
\nincluding chairman Nazaruddin Syamsudin, have been charged as
\nsuspects in the case.<\/p>\n
But Hamid and fellow former KPU member Anas Urbaningrum (now a
\nmember of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party), and
\ncurrent commissioners Ramlan Surbakti, Chusnul Mar'iyah and
\nValina Singka Subekti have been spared prosecution. This has
\nprompted criticism of the Corruption Eradication Commission
\n(KPK), which has investigated and is prosecuting the case, for
\nlacking impartiality.<\/p>\n
Critics say that the KPK should also put Hamid and other KPU
\nofficials on trial, particularly as earlier testimony by KPU
\nofficials indicated that they also may have received the
\nkickbacks, which were paid into what was termed a "tactical
\nfund".<\/p>\n
Responding to Hamid's testimony, Hamdani said that he gave the
\nwitness a total of $110,000, made up of five payments, in 2004.<\/p>\n
"In January, 2004, I gave him $15,000, in April $30,000, in
\nJune $25,000, in August $30,000 and in September $10,000," he
\nsaid, adding that he had made payments out of the tactical fund
\nto all the KPU commissioners and senior staff members. No
\nreceipts were issued.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ramlan and Chusnul gave similar testimony to
\nHamid's, saying that they had never received any of the kickback
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
Chusnul, for instance, insisted that she received only a
\nmonthly honorarium and annual bonus.<\/p>\n
She admitted that she had received Rp 12 million from the
\ndefendant in October 2004, but claimed she did not know why she
\nhad been given the money.<\/p>\n
KPU deputy secretary-general Sussongko Suhardjo said during a
\nprevious session of the trial last week that Chusnul had received
\na total of $110,000, made up of five payments, in 2004.<\/p>\n
Ramlan said that he received a cellular phone, annual bonuses
\nworth Rp 14.5 million and $44,900 from the defendant "but, I
\nassumed that the money for the purchase of the cellular phones
\nfor all KPU members, the annual bonuses and the other money paid
\nout to all employees was all taken from the commission's official
\nbudget."<\/p>\n
He added that he handed over American dollars he had received
\nfrom the commission to the KPK after learning of the graft case
\nfrom reports in the media.<\/p>",
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