Akbar names new team of lawyers ahead of trial

Akbar names new team of lawyers ahead of trial

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In an abrupt move ahead of his first trial scheduled to start
on Monday, House of Representative Speaker Akbar Tandjung
currently implicated in the high profile Bulog scandal replaced
his team of lawyers on Friday.

Akbar, who is also the chairman of the Golkar Party, has
appointed a new 10-member team of lawyers, including, among
others, Amir Syamsuddin, who acts as leader of the team, John
Waleri, Martin Pongrekun and Denny Kailimang.

The appointment was made after Amir was previously rumored to
have strengthened Akbar's earlier team, consisting of Hotma
Sitompul, Ruhut Sitompul and Tommy Sihotang.

Akbar was detained at the Attorney General's Office on March
7, for allegedly misappropriating Rp 40 billion in funds
belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) allocated for
food aid for the poor in 1999 when he was the minister/state
secretary under former president B.J. Habibie.

The Rp 40 billion is believed by many to have been channeled
into the Golkar Party to finance its 1999 election campaign.
Golkar executive Syamsul Mu'arif, who is also the state minister
for communications and information, said the funds had been
shared with all of the 48 parties contesting the election, except
for the People's Democratic Party.

Akbar's case is part of a Rp 54.6 billion corruption case
involving former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan as the prime
suspect, who is also being tried in the South Jakarta District
Court.

Ruhut expressed resentment on Friday over "intervention by
Golkar supporters" in the proceedings, citing as an example of a
recent visit by Akbar's wife Krisnina Maharani to the Central
Jakarta District Court demanding the postponement of Akbar's
detention.

"We were restricted in our efforts in presenting the case as
members of Golkar continue interfering in the proceedings," Ruhut
told The Jakarta Post.

There has been speculation that Golkar was not satisfied with
the work of the old team, so Akbar was advised to appoint other
team of lawyers.

The speculation, however, was denied by Slamet Effendi Jusuf,
cochairman of Golkar, saying the party members never directly
intervened in the case, but merely provided legal advice to Akbar
to be later communicated with the lawyers.

"Some Golkar law experts were simply giving advice with
decisions being left to the chairman himself. We never intervened
directly in the legal process," Slamet told the Post, adding that
Krisnina went to the Central Jakarta District Court of her own
initiative and was not advised to do so by any Golkar members.

The Central Jakarta District Court set up a panel of judges,
consisting of Judge Andi and I Ketut Gede and Presiding Judge
Amiruddin Zakaria, only a couple of hours after the Jakarta
Prosecutors' Office handed over the case files on March 14.

Many have alleged that the process in Akbar's case has been
accelerated for political reasons in an attempt to show the
public that law enforcers are really serious about the case. It
is also believed to function as an exchange for the House of
Representatives not establishing a special investigative
committee into his case.

The House failed again to set up the committee on Monday due
to aggressive lobbying by Golkar members, the second largest and
richest party in the country.

Golkar is campaigning intensively against the establishment of
the committee for fear of possible damaging consequences for
Akbar, his political career and the party.