Police cross-check Puteh's testimony<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police began questioning two more top officials from Nanggroe
\nAceh Darussalam province on Friday as witnesses in a Rp 30
\nbillion (US$3.52 million) corruption case.<\/p>\n
The secretary of the provincial administration, Thantawi
\nIshak, and the head of the provincial treasury, T. Lizam,
\nappeared at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Friday
\nfor questioning.<\/p>\n
According to the director of the police's White-Collar Crime
\nDivision, Brig. Gen. Sugiri, the questioning revolved around the
\nprocedures used in the purchase of a power generator.<\/p>\n
"We want to know who authorized the purchase of the
\ngenerator," said Sugiri.<\/p>\n
He said police had also arranged to question Aceh Deputy
\nGovernor Azwar Abu Bakar over the same matter.<\/p>\n
The questioning of Lizam and Thantawi over the purchase of the
\ngenerator is part of the investigation into corruption
\nallegations that have implicated a number of top officials in
\nAceh, including Governor Abdullah Puteh.<\/p>\n
Police questioned Puteh at the Jakarta Police Headquarters on
\nWednesday last week. Puteh denied any involvement in corruption,
\nsaying he had obtained approval from Aceh councillors for the
\npurchase of the generator.<\/p>\n
During more than eight hours of questioning, Puteh was
\nrequired to provide detailed answers to 21 questions concerning
\nthe purchase of the generator and who was involved in the
\ntransaction.<\/p>\n
Sugiri said whether or not the governor would be resummoned
\ndepended on the answers given by other officials scheduled for
\nquestioning in the case.<\/p>\n
"We have already questioned Puteh and managed to get a lot of
\ninformation from him, which will need to be cross-checked," said
\nNational Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar on Friday.<\/p>\n
Asked if the police would name Puteh a suspect in the
\ncorruption case, Da'i said it was too early to answer that and
\nthe investigation first needed to be completed.<\/p>\n
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) also questioned
\nPuteh on Thursday over his alleged role in a markup in the
\npurchase of a Russian-made helicopter in 2002.<\/p>\n
According to the commission, the questioning revealed that the
\ngovernor bypassed the bidding process in the purchase of the
\nhelicopter for Rp 12.5 billion.<\/p>\n
However, the KPK refused to say whether Puteh had violated
\nGovernment Regulation No. 29\/1999, which requires a transparent
\nbid for any government projects or the procurement of goods
\nvalued at more than Rp 5 billion.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
\nsaid on Friday the KPK already had sufficient evidence to file a
\ncomplaint against Puteh for a $725,000 markup in the price of the
\nhelicopter.<\/p>\n
The PBHI urged the KPK not to use Puteh's position as the
\ngovernor of Aceh as an excuse for delaying the investigation, or
\nto try and shift the blame to lower level officials.<\/p>\n
Puteh took over as the civil emergency administrator in Aceh
\non May 19, after the government revoked martial law in the
\nprovince.<\/p>",
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