14 councillors charged with graft
Andi Hajramurni and ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Sidoarjo
Police here named at least 14 of 75 South Sulawesi legislative council members as suspects on Thursday in a graft case, while East Java prosecutors sought a six-year jail term for Sidoarjo legislature speaker on similar charges.
The 14 suspects, reelected as new South Sulawesi councillors for the 2004-2009 period, are accused of embezzling some Rp 18.23 billion (US$2.02 million) from the province's 2003 budget.
Eleven of them are Golkar Party councillors -- Saldi Mansyur, Ichsan Yasin Limpo, Dachlan Maulana, Abdul Madjid Thahir, Hoist Bahtiar, Ajeip Padindang, Mapparessa Tutu, Aris Pangerang, La Kamawiyaka, Arfandi Idris and Pangerang Rahim.
The other suspects are Ramli Haba from the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Machmud Hajar and Hamzah H. Pati Hasan.
Earlier, police had also declared council secretary Syamsuddin a suspect in the graft.
South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said on Thursday the 14 new suspects had been charged following information collected during two days of questioning Syamsuddin.
"They are considered to know more about the irregularities in the 2003 budget because they were directly involved in drafting the allocations of funds when the budget was being revised," Saleh argued.
However, he could not say when the 14 legislators would be summoned for questioning.
Under Article 103 (3) of Government Regulation No. 25/2004, law enforcers can summon councillors for questioning in a corruption case without obtaining permission from the home affairs minister.
"We will discuss this matter. If the new regulation can be implemented now, we will soon summons the 14 councillors," Saleh said.
The previous ruling required police or prosecutors to get permission from the central government to question council members charged with any crime.
Meanwhile, prosecutors asked the Sidoarjo District Court on Thursday to sentence local council speaker Utsman Ikhsan to six years for allegedly misusing Rp 21 billion from the city's 2003 budget.
The defendant, from the National Awakening Party (PKB), was mostly responsible for corruption, prosecutor Soeprihanto told a hearing.
Utsman and his lawyer, however, denied any wrongdoing, saying all Sidoarjo council members should be responsible for a decree endorsing the allocation of the misused money.
Corruption is rampant in local legislatures across the country during the reform era since mid 1998, with many members convicted, standing trial or being questioned.