Members of 29 legislatures quizzed over alleged graft<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Corruption appears to be widespread in regional legislatures
\nhere, with hundreds of councillors of 29 provincial, regental and
\nmunicipal councils being investigated, and some already found
\nguilty, a senior prosecutor disclosed on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Sudhono Iswahyudi, the attorney general's deputy for special
\ncrimes, said here that the councillors were convicted and being
\ninvestigated for various corruption crimes, with making
\nfictitious budget allocations the most common one.<\/p>\n
\"Many councillors make up budget allocations to enable them to
\nget additional money from the regional budget. Others are accused
\nof misusing state funds by allocating money for programs that
\nlater turn out to be fictitious,\" said Sudhono, during a meeting
\nwith representatives of the Association of Regional Legislative
\nCouncils (Adeksi).<\/p>\n
He cited a case in which several councillors from a certain
\nregion had allocated money for a comparative study abroad.<\/p>\n
\"We investigated the case and discovered that they never made
\nthat trip. Other councillors said they were going on a 10-day
\ntrip but only stayed five days,\" said Sudhono.<\/p>\n
Other councillors in another region, he said, applied for
\ninsurance of Rp 20 million each, but they used the money for
\nhousing instead of paying the premium.<\/p>\n
Sudhono said the councillors frequently marked up the cost of
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
Cases of fictitious budget allocations are being investigated
\nin several regental and municipal councils in Central Java, West
\nNusa Tenggara, Jambi, Central Kalimantan, West Java and West
\nSumatra provinces.<\/p>\n
Sudhono said other councillors were charged with vote-buying
\nduring the mayoral or gubernatorial elections.<\/p>\n
According to data from the AGO, money politics was found to
\nhave occurred in several regions, including Natuna Island, Pati
\nin Riau, Central Java; Tasikmalaya in West Java, and in several
\nregencies of North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has 32 provinces, and over 400 regencies and
\nmunicipalities.<\/p>\n
Sudhono said state losses due to these corruption cases could
\nreach trillions of rupiah. \"However, we are still investigating
\nthe cases. When we are ready to take them to court, we can make a
\nmore accurate estimation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Besides investigating the councillors, the prosecutors are
\nalso investigating executives, such as mayors and regency heads
\nfor their alleged involvement in corruption cases, said Sudono.<\/p>\n
Corruption cases in regional legislatures have been headline
\nnews for the last few months, with a corruption case in West
\nSumatra provincial council being the most high-profile case.<\/p>\n
Padang District Court in West Sumatra sentenced 43 of 55
\nprovincial councillors to prison terms of up two years and three
\nmonths on May 17, for embezzling Rp 6.4 billion (US$680,851) of
\nthe 2002 provincial budget.<\/p>",
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