Police detain suspect Nurdin after seven-hour grilling<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The National Police has detained lawmaker Nurdin Halid shortly
\nafter questioning him for seven hours on Wednesday as a suspect
\nof smuggling 73,000 tons of sugar into Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The police were unable last month to detain Nurdin, who chairs
\nthe Confederation of Primary Cooperatives Association (Inkud), as
\nhe was admitted to Sukanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East
\nJakarta, after a nine-hour interrogation.<\/p>\n
The police resumed interrogating the suspect on Wednesday
\nafter doctors deemed him fit for questioning.<\/p>\n
National Police director of fraud Brig. Gen. Samuel Ismoko
\nsaid Nurdin was placed under custody to speed the investigation.<\/p>\n
\"We began questioning him at 9 p.m. after picking him up at
\nthe hospital. We will not let him return to the hospital, as we
\nbelieve he is recovered,\" said Ismoko.<\/p>\n
Before his four-week hospitalization at Sukanto in mid-July,
\nNurdin was rushed to Pertamina Hospital, South Jakarta, after the
\nnine-hour grilling, when he was officially declared a suspect.<\/p>\n
According to his lawyers and police, Nurdin lost consciousness
\nafter the questioning, and Pertamina doctors found him in good
\nshape, but suffering from exhaustion.<\/p>\n
The police admitted Nurdin to Sukanto hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n
As police and doctors at Sukanto were tight-lipped about
\nNurdin's condition and reasons for his hospitalization,
\nsuspicions surfaced that they were attempting to protect the
\nhigh-profile graft suspect.<\/p>\n
Sr. Comr. Bimanesh Sutejo, the head doctor treating Nurdin,
\ntold The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the legislator was
\ndeclared fit on Aug. 12, as a previously detected stomach
\ninflammation had receded.<\/p>\n
Ismoko said the investigation would focus on Nurdin's role in
\nthe sugar smuggling.<\/p>\n
\"As Inkud chairman, he must be aware of any large transactions
\ninvolving his organization.<\/p>\n
\"We will charge him under the Anticorruption Law, because the
\ngovernment had paid foreign investors for the sugar through his
\norganization. Now, the sugar is illegal, but the state disbursed
\nfunds for it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ismoko said the sugar smuggling involving Inkud had caused
\nbillions of rupiah in state losses.<\/p>\n
The sugar smuggling case surfaced after a farmers' association
\nreported on June that they found 73,000 tons of smuggled sugar at
\nseveral warehouses in Jakarta, Bogor and Makassar, South
\nSulawesi.<\/p>\n
Police said the sugar belonged to Inkud and named eight
\nsuspects, including Nurdin's brother Abdul Waris Halid, Effendy
\nKemek, Abdul Badar Saleh and Jack Tanim.<\/p>\n
Three officials from the customs and excise office and Raja
\nBenarje of PT Phoenix, which had exported the sugar, were also
\nnamed suspects in the case.<\/p>\n
However, police recently changed Raja's status to witness.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, customs and excise authorities questioned Abdul
\nWaris for allegedly breaching regulations by storing the sugar in
\nport warehouses without documentation.<\/p>\n
Abdul's lawyer Edison Petaubun said customs officials had
\ncompleted their investigation and planned to submit their case
\nfile to police next week.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-detain-suspect-nurdin-after-seven-hour-grilling-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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