69 councillors to be grilled over graft allegation
69 councillors to be grilled over graft allegation
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung
Following a green light from the Central government, Lampung
Prosecutor's Office will soon question 69 councillors from
Lampung provincial council for their alleged roles in the Rp 19.5
billion (US$2 million) graft case. Earlier, the provincial
prosecutors have already questioned six councillors for their
respective roles in the high profile graft case.
"The questioning will be held immediately. In the meantime, we
are completing the dossiers on the six council leaders and we
will soon hand over the dossiers to the court for prosecution,"
said Zainal Abidin, the deputy chief of Lampung prosecutor's
office.
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno gave the green light on
Monday during his visit to Bandar Lampung, the capital of Lampung
province. Hari said that the prosecutors should not need to wait
for his written approval and from now on, they could proceed with
the investigations.
The corruption case was brought to light two years ago when
several activists reported their findings to prosecutors on the
alleged corruption of the Lampung 2001 and 2002 provincial
budgets.
The activists alleged that 75 councillors had collectively
embezzled a total of Rp 19.5 billion from the budget.
They said that the councillors were found to have marked up
the budget allocation.
The investigation into the 75 Lampung provincial councillors
is being held amid current investigations and prosecution into
other fellow councillors nationwide, including Padang municipal
council in West Sumatra province and West Nusa Tenggara
provincial council.
Selected regions where several/most/all council members were
prosecuted/convicted on graft charges in 2004
Regions (Alleged) sum involved Status
Kampar, Riau Rp 1.13 b (US$ 118.42) suspects
Cirebon, West Java Rp 1.3 b suspects
Lampung Rp 19.5 b suspects
Padang, West Sumatra Rp 10.4 b suspects
West Sumatra Rp 6.48 b convicted
Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi Rp 1.9 b suspects
West Nusa Tenggara Rp 24.2 b suspects
From various sources