Abda'oe released from detention

Abda'oe released from detention

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office has released two
suspects in a corruption case allegedly involving former minister
of mines and energy Ginandjar Kartasasmita, as a result of a
court verdict ordering Ginandjar's release from detention.

Former president of state oil and gas company Pertamina Faisal
Abda'oe and director of private oil company PT Ustraindo Petro
Gas Praptono H. Tjitrohupojo were officially released after the
director of special crimes investigation Sudibyo Saleh issued a
release order on Monday.

"We released the suspects in compliance with the court order,"
Attorney General's Office spokesman Mulyohardjo said.

He was referring to the South Jakarta District Court's verdict
handed down last Wednesday that ruled the detention of Ginandjar,
a former three-star Air Force general, was illegal.

The judge said the corruption case had to be investigated by a
joint military-police team.

Muljohardjo said the Attorney General's Office would appeal to
the Supreme Court.

Abda'oe was under house arrest, while Praptono was treated at
the Mitra Keluarga Hospital in East Jakarta as he claimed to be
ill.

Both Abda'oe and Praptono, along with Ginandjar and his
successor, Ida Bagus Sudjana, are suspects in the same corruption
case related to the granting of technical assistance contract to
PT Ustraindo -- a construction company partly owned by a son of
former president Soeharto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, in the early
1990s.

The scandal resulted in US$24.8 million in state losses.

Ida Bagus, the successor of Ginandjar, however, was not
arrested.

In an unrelated case, timber tycoon Prajogo Pangestu failed to
appear earlier in the day at the Attorney General's Office for
questioning.

"Pak Prajogo has been in Singapore for medical treatment for
almost a week, while my client has yet to receive any summons
from the prosecutors," Prajogo's lawyer Denny Kailimang told The
Post. (02)