AG sparks protests over talks with troubled tycoon
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh drew criticism on Monday for holding an informal meeting last week with businessman Abdul Latief, who owns a TV station being probed by prosecutors for involvement in an alleged loan scam.
Deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Lucky Djani, told The Jakarta Post on Monday that it was unethical for the Attorney General to receive Latief outside of a formal investigating session.
"Whatever the reasons they use to justify the meeting, it is still unethical for them to have done so as it could influence the graft investigation by the Attorney General's Office (AGO)," Lucky said.
Latief, who served as a minister of manpower under the Soeharto regime and was one of the former strongman's close aides, is the owner of PT Lativi Media Karya (LMK), which is now under investigation by the AGO in relation to an alleged loan scandal involving Rp 328.5 billion (US$34.5 million) disbursed by the giant state-owned Bank Mandiri.
Lativi president director Hasyim Sumiana has been declared a suspect in the high profile case, but has not been detained.
On Monday, AGO investigators questioned the company's vice president, Harun Koeswardono, and assistant accounts director Eka Utoyo.
Lucky said that although there were no regulations prohibiting prosecutors, judges and suspects or witnesses from holding meetings outside of formal investigating sessions, such meetings were nevertheless unacceptable.
"Prosecutors and judges in countries that have more developed legal systems than ours never hold such meetings as they know that it is wrong to do so," he argued.
AGO spokesman R.J. Soehandojo confirmed that Latief and Abdul Rahman met on Friday evening at the AGO building, saying that the meeting was informal in nature and had not been scheduled.
"Pak Latief met Pak Abdul Rahman only in their capacity as ordinary citizens, and they discussed the problems affecting Pak Latief's company," Soehandojo told journalists at the AGO building on Monday.
He gave assurances that the meeting would not interfere with the AGO's investigation into top executives of Lativi.
"We will also question former Lativi president director Usman Ja'far, but we're still waiting for approval from the President for this," Soehandojo said.
Usman served as Lativi president director from 1999 to 2002, during which time the broadcasting company obtained the now- problematic loan from Bank Mandiri. He is currently the governor of East Kalimantan province, where local non-governmental organizations have demanded that he resign over his alleged role in the graft case.
Apart from Lativi, three other companies -- PT Cipta Graha Nusantara/Tahta Medan (CGN/TM), PT Siak Zamrud Pusaka (SZP) and PT Artha Bhama Texindo/Artha Tri Mustika Texindo (ABM/ATM) are facing similar investigations.
According to a report from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), Bank Mandiri extended a total of Rp 12 trillion in loans to 28 companies in suspicious circumstances. The loans had since turned sour.
The AGO sparked criticism last month for its decision to halt the investigation into two of the 28 firms that obtained loans from Bank Mandiri. The two were PT Semen Bosowa Maros, which is owned by a nephew of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and PT Bakrie Telecom, owned by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie.