Ismoko named suspects in Nurdin case<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The National Police have charged five officers as suspects on
\ncharges of attempting to pervert the course of justice by
\nviolating the rules set out in the Criminal Law Procedures Code
\n(KUHAP) when compiling the case file against corruption suspect
\nand politician Nurdin Halid.<\/p>\n
The officers, including former fraud squad director Brig. Gen.
\nSamuel Ismoko, are now set to face disciplinary hearings.<\/p>\n
Ismoko has already been detained on charges of abuse of power
\nwhen investigating a lending scandal at Bank Negara Indonesia
\n(BNI) that inflicted losses of around Rp 1.7 trillion (US$1.70
\nbillion) on the taxpayer.<\/p>\n
\"The police investigators were negligent by not asking the
\nwitnesses in Nurdin's case to make and to sign new statements,\"
\nNational Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Paulus Purwoko told a news
\nconference here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Last week, the North Jakarta District Court rejected
\nprosecution charges that Nurdin had illegally imported some
\n70,000 tons of sugar, valued at Rp 3.41 billion, from Thailand in
\n2002.<\/p>\n
The court said that the prosecution had failed to prove the
\ncharges against Nurdin, the chairman of the Confederation of
\nPrimary Cooperative Associations (Inkud) and also a Golkar
\npolitician.<\/p>\n
The court took into account the testimony of 19
\nwitnesses, who said they had never been questioned about the case
\nand that their signatures on statements in the Nurdin case had
\nbeen copied from the file on another suspect, Abdul Waris Halid,
\nwho is Nurdin's brother. Abdul Waris has already been acquitted
\nof all charges.<\/p>\n
Following the verdict, the police's internal affairs division
\nquickly launched an investigation into the signatures and found
\nthe five officers were responsible for the mistake.<\/p>\n
However, Paulus said the police's internal affairs
\ninvestigators had not found any evidence that the signatures had
\nbeen forged.<\/p>\n
He also said the police might commence another investigation
\ninto the Nurdin case after he was acquitted by the North Jakarta
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
Also on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes
\nHendarman Supandji said his office was anxious to see the
\nNational Police reopen the graft investigation into Nurdin.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the Nurdin case, Chief Justice Bagir Manan said
\nthe court had not actually acquitted Nurdin but merely rejected
\nthe manner in which the charges had been framed. Thus, Nurdin
\ncould still face a new trial.<\/p>\n
Separately, Ismoko's lawyer Juniver Girsang denied that the
\nfive police suspects, including his client, had done anything
\nwrong when compiling the case files against Nurdin and Abdul
\nWaris. It was merely a \"technical glitch\", he claimed.<\/p>\n
\"The two files were initially compiled as one but this was
\nlater split into two by the prosecution. The question is why they
\ndid not check and review the case files once they received them,\"
\nJuniver said.<\/p>\n
According to Juniver, it was Ismoko who first arrested and
\nbrought Nurdin to court. Thus, it was highly improbable that his
\nclient would want to see Nurdin acquitted.<\/p>\n
In June, Nurdin was acquitted by the South Jakarta District
\nCourt on charges of misusing Rp 169 billion supplied by the State
\nLogistics Agency.<\/p>\n
He has also appealed against another North Jakarta District
\nCourt verdict last August that sentenced him to a two-and-a-half-
\nyear jail term for smuggling 59,100 tons of rice from Vietnam.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ismoko-named-suspects-in-nurdin-case-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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