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.