Suwondo makes first public appearance<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid's personal masseur,
\nAlip Agung Suwondo, a suspect in the multi-billion rupiah State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) scandal, made his first public
\nappearance on Tuesday after three nights in police custody.<\/p>\n
The appearance of Suwondo at Jakarta Police Headquarters was
\nseemingly without purpose as he struggled to escape from the
\npress and kept his mouth covered with his free hand.<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old was also sporting three medicated bandages,
\nrespectively on his right temple, left cheek, and neck, in an
\napparent effort to prevent press photographers from getting a
\nfull-face photograph of him.<\/p>\n
Thus far, all media have been running the same picture of
\nSuwondo since he was declared a suspect in the disbursement of Rp
\n35 billion from Bulog's employee foundation, Yanatera.<\/p>\n
Suwondo found himself surrounded by the press on Tuesday
\nshortly after undergoing a medical checkup at the city police
\nmedical center located at Jakarta Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
Attired in a detainee's uniform, the founder of the Awair
\nairline refused to speak to the waiting reporters.<\/p>\n
Instead, he walked very quickly toward the police car, which
\nhad taken him earlier to the medical center, all the time
\ncovering his mouth with his hand.<\/p>\n
His request to get into the car was immediately rejected by
\nthe police. One of the officers ordered him to walk instead to
\nthe police detention center, located some 200 meters away.<\/p>\n
Seemingly unhappy with the order, Suwondo then decided to
\nbreak into a sprint, forcing the members of the press and the
\npolice to work extra hard to follow him. At one point, three
\nreporters and a police detective, who was escorting Suwondo,
\nstumbled in the effort to catch up with the suspect.<\/p>\n
Suwondo, also identified by police as An Peng Sui, looked
\npale.<\/p>\n
According to the secretary of the Jakarta Police Medical
\nCenter, Supt. Prijatna Sudardja, his team of police doctors still
\nneeded one more day to determine Suwondo's physical and mental
\nhealth.<\/p>\n
\"We found some disorders in Suwondo's health,\" Prijatna said
\nbut refused to elaborate.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, a team of doctors from the National Police
\nstated that Suwondo was mentally fit.<\/p>\n
The chief of the Jakarta Police's criminal investigation unit,
\nSr. Supt. Harry Montolalu, said on Tuesday that the police were
\nstill waiting for the final report from the doctors prior to
\nquestioning the suspect.<\/p>\n
The scandal revolves around the disbursement of the funds in
\nJanuary of this year by the Bulog deputy chief, Sapuan.<\/p>\n
Sapuan, who is currently on trial for the disbursement of the
\nfunds, has testified that he released the money at the request of
\nSuwondo, who said that he was acting on behalf of President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid who wanted Bulog to participate in a
\nhumanitarian aid program for the strife-torn province of Aceh.<\/p>\n
Police earlier disclosed that all of the funds initially went
\nto Suwondo, who then distributed Rp 25 billion to other parties
\nfor various reasons while keeping the rest for himself.<\/p>\n
The first Rp 15 billion portion of the funds went to Suko
\nSudarso, an official of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), another Rp 5 billion went to
\nbusinesswoman Siti Farika, who has family links with the
\nNahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization, once chaired by
\nAbdurahman, and the remaining Rp 5 billion went to Leo Purnomo,
\nwho police said was an employee of the Awair airline company.<\/p>\n
To date, police have named Suko and Farika as witnesses in the
\ncase, while Leo is still at large.<\/p>\n
Awair, formerly called A.W. Air, was jointly founded by
\nSuwondo. Abdurrahman and Rachmat Soebakir. The latter is the
\npresident of the new airline.<\/p>\n
The company insisted on Tuesday that Leo was never a part of
\nthe airline.<\/p>\n
During Sapuan's trial at the South Jakarta District Court on
\nTuesday, witness Hendri Arioseno, a well-known land broker among
\ntycoons, testified that he received a Rp 15 billion cheque from
\nSuwondo as payment for 100 hectares of land in Cianjur Selatan,
\nWest Java.<\/p>\n
Hendri told the hearing, presided over by judge Lalu Mariyun,
\nthat Suwondo later borrowed Rp 3.6 billion from him to, among
\nother things, purchase a Range Rover jeep, a BMW sports car and a
\nMercedes New Eyes sedan.<\/p>\n
Later in the hearing, he explained that he gave all of the
\nproceeds of the Rp 15 billion cheque to his \"close friend\" Suko
\nSudarso to be kept by the latter.<\/p>\n
\"I trust Suko implicitly,\" Hendri said, adding that Suko later
\nreturned the Rp 15 billion to him in installments.<\/p>\n
Teti also gave evidence during the same hearing.<\/p>\n
\"I just do what my husband says and I don't question him... at
\nthat time, I kept the cheque aside (like) a toy,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Teti also said that her husband knew President Aburrahman well
\nas a friend, before he became president, but failed to elaborate
\nfurther on their relationship.<\/p>\n
Judge Lalu adjourned the hearing until next Tuesday. (jaw\/ylt)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/suwondo-makes-first-public-appearance-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }