Akbar quizzed over land scam only 'as witness'
JAKARTA (JP): After being questioned for four hours by police over an alleged land scam, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung on Monday insisted that he was innocent, while maintaining that he would not file a counter-suit against his nephews, who lodged the police complaint.
"I feel I have done no wrong, but I will not sue, because these are family matters. The people who filed the complaint against me are my own nephews... whatever the reason (for filing the complaint), they are still biologically linked to me," Akbar told reporters at the National Police Detectives Headquarters, adding that he had been asked 22 questions in the four-hour police questioning, which began at 10 a.m.
"Besides, I was questioned only as a witness."
The police complaint filed by Akbar's nephews Kurnia Ananda, Taufik Ananda and Indra Ananda, allege that Akbar had forged the land titles to 23 hectares of land in the Srengseng subdistrict of Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.
The consent of President Abdurrahman Wahid to question the House Speaker was granted on March 12.
Police have so far questioned three witnesses in the case, including Kurnia Ananda.
The land, owned by Akbar's elder brother Dato Usman Zahiruddin, was sold by Akbar to, among other purchasers, the city administration for use as a public park.
When asked on Monday if Akbar had received Rp 400 million (US$40,000) for the land sale from Bob Sugiarto -- a contractor named by the city government to acquire the land for a city park -- Akbar did not answer clearly, stressing only that he had given his answer to the police.
"For the substance of the case, it is better if you (reporters) ask the police. Till now, I don't feel I have committed any wrong," Akbar said.
Former Kebun Jeruk district chief executive and subsequently West Jakarta mayor Sutardjianto has already been named a suspect in the case.
Kurnia, who is Zahiruddin's son, told the police that he and his brothers once met with Akbar, whose full name is Akbar Djandji Zahiruddin Tandjung, when the latter was minister of public housing, at his official residence on Jl. Widya Chandra, South Jakarta in 1995.
According to Kurnia, Akbar offered to return the proceeds from the sale of the land based on a price of Rp 50,000 per square meter, but Zahiruddin's sons refused the offer and instead demanded Rp 500,000 per square meter, as the market price of the land had reached Rp 1 million per square meter by that time.
Kurnia reported the case to the police last year, but received an unsatisfactory response. Last month he turned to the National Ombudsman Commission, which then recommended that the police investigate the case.
Separately, Akbar's lawyer Atmajaya Salim, who arrived at the office of the National Police Detectives before Akbar, insisted that his client was innocent and said that the lawsuit was already statute-barred.
Earlier, Atmajaya, who is from the Soekanto Salim and Associates law firm, said that the land dispute took place between 1983 and 1994 and a suit brought by the heirs of Zahiruddin had been thrown out by the South Jakarta District Court and the Jakarta High Court.
"Over the period of the dispute, my client was merely a member of the administrative staff of the family company Marison NV, where he had been since 1978. He didn't have authority to decide on the acquisition of the land," Atmajaya said.(ylt)