Wardah goes to Attorney General's Office<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Braving intimidation, Wardah Hafidz of the Urban
\nPoor Consortium (UPC) reported findings of alleged abuse by the
\nPeople's Sovereignty Party (PDR) and Golkar of social safety net
\nfunds worth US$800 million to the Election Supervisory Committee
\non Monday.<\/p>\n
Wardah earlier tried to report the UPC findigs to the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office but was unable to meet with officials there.<\/p>\n
At almost the same time as Wardah reported the findings, a
\nnews conference was given by Minister of Cooperatives and Small
\nEnterprises Adi Sasono, who reportedly helped found the PDR,
\nsaying UPC's allegation was politically motivated.<\/p>\n
Officials at the Attorney General's Office on Jl.
\nSisingamangaraja, South Jakarta, initially closed their doors on
\nWardah and her lawyers. Security personnel were seen pushing the
\nlawyers' vehicle, with Wardah inside, out of the grounds.<\/p>\n
After a heated argument, officials finally allowed Wardah to
\nenter the building.<\/p>\n
Once inside, she canceled her plan to submit her
\norganization's report on the alleged misuse of funds, after
\ndiscovering that the newly appointed Deputy Attorney General for
\nSpecial Crimes Ramelan and one of the directors Bismar Mannu were
\nnot there to meet her.<\/p>\n
\"It is very disappointing because they said earlier they would
\nbe available,\" Wardah said. \"This demonstrates the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office is not responsive or ready to receive data from
\nthe public.\"<\/p>\n
Wardah was accompanied by lawyers from the Indonesian Legal
\nAid and Human Rights Association, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute
\nand the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy.<\/p>\n
She went on to visit the Election Supervisory Committee in the
\nAspac Building on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, submitting to
\ncommittee member Dadang Hawari her organization's findings on the
\nalleged misuse.<\/p>\n
The UPC has accused PDR and Golkar of diverting US$800 million
\nearmarked for a poverty alleviation program for their election
\ncampaigns and of distributing the money under the parties' names.<\/p>\n
Dadang said after a two-and-half hour meeting that the
\ncommittee had launched an investigation into the matter.<\/p>\n
\"The committee at the provincial and regency levels are still
\ntrying to gather all the evidence,\" Dadang said, adding that both
\nparties had denied the allegation.<\/p>\n
Wardah said she was pessimistic the committee would be able to
\ntake any significant measures against the two parties.<\/p>\n
She told a news conference last week that Golkar and the PDR
\nhad used some of the World Bank-funded social safety net funds to
\nhelp promote their parties.<\/p>\n
The Social Safety Net program is a World Bank fund aimed at
\nhelping millions of people forced to subsist below the poverty
\nline by the country's economic crisis of the past two years.<\/p>\n
Adi's office is in charge of numerous assistance schemes to
\nhelp farmers and small traders through cooperatives. Adi has
\ndenied any formal links with the PDR, despite a huge party
\nnewspaper advertisement carrying his picture and identifying him
\nas the party's prospective president.<\/p>\n
In a related development, in Yogyakarta, the local Election
\nSupervisory Committee alleged the PDR on May 27 held a party
\nmeeting at the compound of the local office of the Ministry of
\nCooperatives.<\/p>\n
Intimidation<\/p>\n
During Wardah's visit at the Attorney General's Office, some
\n30 women's rights activists staged a peaceful protest outside the
\ncompound over the alleged funds abuse.<\/p>\n
The activists also protested alleged threats leveled against
\nthe UPC office and activists. \"Stop terrorizing witnesses who try
\nto seek justice and uncover the truth,\" read one of the placards.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Wardah said in a statement the UPC office in East
\nJakarta had received phone threats before and after the Wednesday
\npress conference.<\/p>\n
She also said a group of unidentified people pelted a glass
\nwindow in the front of the office with stones on Friday.<\/p>\n
Secretary-General of the Independent Election Monitoring
\nCommittee (KIPP) Mulyana W. Kusumah and PBHI executive director
\nHendardi also strongly condemned the alleged threats on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"It must be stressed that the central theme of our client's
\neffort is the government's accountability to the public,\"
\nHendardi said in a statement. (23\/43\/edt\/byg\/gis)<\/p>",
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