AGO to question Akbar, Wiranto on Wednesday
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Attorney General's Office on Friday issued summonses for House of Representatives' Speaker Akbar Tandjung and former military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto to appear at the office on Wednesday for questioning in relation to a graft investigation.
"The Attorney General's Office today (Friday) served summonses on Akbar Tandjung and former defense minister and Indonesian Military commander Wiranto to appear at the office on Wednesday for questioning as witnesses over the use of Bulog non-budgetary funds," spokesman Muljohardjo said on Friday evening.
Muljohardjo said Wiranto was expected to arrive at the office for questioning at 9.00 a.m., while Wiranto was slated to arrive at 2.00 p.m.
Muljohardjo said that Akbar and Wiranto would be questioned over the suspected misuse of Rp 54 billion of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) funds which were allegedly disbursed to them in 1999.
The summons for Akbar, who is protected by legislatorial immunity, was only issued after the approval of President Megawati Soekarnoputri was obtained for the Attorney General's Office to question him over the matter.
Akbar, however, said in Jakarta that he had not received the summons.
"When I receive the summons from the Attorney General's Office, I will be ready (for questioning). But I haven't received it yet," he claimed.
The House speaker said he had retained lawyers Hotman Sitompoel, Lawrence Siburian and Ruhut Sitompul to assist him in the case.
Earlier in the day, Attorney General AR Rachman said in the North Sumatra capital of Medan that Akbar would be questioned as a witness. But, he added that Akbar's status could be changed to that of a suspect if there was sufficient evidence that he misused the funds.
"Whether he will be named as suspect or not will depend on the results of our investigation. But we have prima facie evidence, including information from the former Bulog chief, Rahardi Ramelan," he added.
According to the testimony given by Rahardi, already a suspect in the Rp 54 billion graft case, Akbar received Rp 40 billion out of a total of Rp 50 billion when he was the state secretary under former president BJ Habibie.
Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, the second largest party in the legislature, has been accused of unlawfully using the funds for Golkar Party electioneering purposes. He has, however, denied the allegation saying that he channeled the money into the government's social safety net program (JPS).
The other Rp 10 billion allegedly went to Wiranto who reportedly used the money to cover the cost of the civilian security militia (Pamswakarsa) he was sponsoring.
The remaining Rp 4 billion was used to pay compensation for the cancellation of the 1996 land swap deal between Bulog and wholesale firm PT Goro Batara Sakti.
The limelight is now firmly focused on Akbar, rather than Habibie or Wiranto.
Akbar has come under pressure from various parties, including from inside his own party, to quit his positions in the party and the House.
Some 40 rival politicians in the House have also filed a motion urging the House to establish a special committee to investigate the suspected misuse of the Bulog funds.
The House during its plenary session tasked the House steering committee to decide whether such an investigative committee should be established or not.