10 more top officials to face graft probes
10 more top officials to face graft probes
Rendi A. Witular and Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono endorsed requests by police
and prosecutors on Thursday to question 10 more top state and
local government officials for their alleged roles in separate
corruption cases.
Presidential spokesman Andi Alfian Mallarangeng said the
President had given his consent shortly before he flew to Lampung
province for a working visit on Thursday.
Andi said the 10 officials in question included a House of
Representatives member, the regent of Kapuas Hulu in West
Kalimantan, and the regent of Lamandau in East Kalimantan and his
deputy.
Also facing questioning were the regent of Pandeglang in
Banten and his deputy, the regent of Karawang in West Java, the
deputy regent of Nganjuk in East Java, the mayor of Banjarmasin
in South Kalimantan and the deputy mayor of Salatiga in Central
Java.
Andi, who accompanied the President during the visit to
Lampung, declined to disclose the names of the 10 officials.
Reliable sources at the Attorney General's Office, however,
identified the House legislator in question as I Gusti Agung
Wirajaya.
The sources also identified six of the nine regents and mayors
who will face corruption probes as Banjarmasin Mayor Met Fajar
Bain, Pandeglang Regent Dimyati Natakusumah and his deputy Mujio
Satari, Lamandau Regent Bustani Machmud and his deputy Yus
Mochammad, and Salatiga Mayor Totok Nurtanto.
"This shows the President's unwavering commitment to
eliminating corruption and bringing corruptors to justice," Andi
told The Jakarta Post.
He said that with the signing of the latest 10 consents, the
President had so far officially approved investigations into a
total of 49 state and local government officials, as well as
legislators, accused of involvement in corruption across
Indonesia.
Eight of the 49 officials are House members.
Andi stressed that the President consistently adhered to the
presumption of innocence when giving his consent for the
investigation of senior officials and legislators.
"Any state officials found guilty of embezzling state assets
or of abuse of power must be sent to jail, while those who are
acquitted must have their good names vindicated," he said as
quoted by Antara.
However, the central government did not say when the 10
persons in question would be suspended from office.
Late last year, the home affairs minister approved the
suspension of Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh only three days before
he went on trial on graft charges. Puteh was jailed for 10 years
in April.
Andi said that some of the 49 state officials had already been
named graft suspects, although they had not been detained, while
the others were still awaiting their turns to be questioned as
witnesses.
The government-sanctioned interdepartmental corruption
eradication team is currently focusing its investigations on
high-profile graft cases in the Religious Affairs Ministry, and a
number of state enterprises, including Pertamina and PT Jamsostek.
President Susilo has ordered the corruption investigations to
move outwards from the State Palace through the ministries and
other state institutions.