AG sparks protests over talks with troubled tycoon

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.