Prosecutors fail to question governor<\/p>\n
Luh Putu Trisna wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Mataram<\/p>\n
The West Nusa Tenggara prosecutor's office has been thwarted in
\nits attempt to question Governor Lalu Serinata as a witness in a
\nRp 24.5 billion (US$2.7 million) graft case that was earlier
\nscheduled on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The interview had originally been scheduled for Wednesday.
\nHowever, prosecutor's office spokesperson, Maryadi IK, said the
\ngovernor's lawyers had sent a letter saying the governor could
\nnot show up as he was on official business outside of the
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
In the letter, the governor's legal advisers explained that
\nLalu would willing to be interviewed upon his return.<\/p>\n
The governor was scheduled to be questioned in connection with
\na case involving mark-ups in the 2001 provincial budget. Twelve
\npeople have already been charged as suspects in the case.<\/p>\n
Nine of the suspects are former councillors, who have been
\ntaken into custody, while the remainder are serving councillors
\nand are still free pending the Minister of Home Affairs' consent
\nfor their arrest.<\/p>\n
The governor's interview was scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday
\nbut the letter stating his inability to show up arrived at 12:15
\np.m., more than three hours late.<\/p>\n
Lalu Serinata had expressed his readiness to be questioned as
\na witness on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Maryadi said the prosecutor's office was waiting for
\nfurther instructions regarding the rescheduling of the interview.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, officials from the provincial administration were
\nunwilling to discuss the governor's sudden departure.<\/p>\n
But a source in the administration, who declined to be named,
\nsaid the governor had been summoned to Jakarta by Vice President
\nYusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n
The scheduled interview was the subject of much public
\nspeculation after protesters attacked the prosecutor's office on
\nMonday in a show of force intended to secure the release of the
\nnine jailed graft suspects.<\/p>\n
A group of people claiming to be community leaders urged the
\nprosecutor's office on Wednesday not to be discriminatory in
\nhandling corruption cases.<\/p>\n
One of them, Umar Tahir, criticized the prosecutors for
\nconcentrating on the case involving the governor but not touching
\nother graft cases.<\/p>\n
For instance, he said the prosecutors had not investigated
\nallegations of graft involving deputy governor Thamrin Rayes in a
\ncase concerning the purchase of administration land worth Rp 525
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
\"If the legal process were to run according to the law, we
\nwould accept it. But it's so discriminatory,\" Umar said.<\/p>\n
Head of West Nusa Tenggara prosecutor's office, Zainal Arifin,
\ndenied that his office was discriminatory in its handling of
\ngraft cases.<\/p>\n
\"There's no such thing as discrimination here. The graft
\ninvestigation involving the deputy governor is much more advanced
\nthan this (the governor's) case. In the deputy governor's case,
\nit only remains for some documents to be prepared by the police
\nbefore it can be taken to court,\" Arifin said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prosecutors-fail-to-question-governor-1447893297",
"image": ""
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