Akbar set on his 'holy' plan
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Not content with privileges he currently enjoys as a criminal suspect, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung is demanding the Attorney General's Office schedule its questioning of him around his haj pilgrimage next month.
Akbar's defense lawyers, led by Hotma Sitompoel, went to see the Attorney General on Monday to inform him that Akbar, a suspect in a Rp 40 billion financial scandal involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), would depart on his pilgrimage on Feb. 14.
The lawyers asked state prosecutors that any questioning be scheduled either before his departure or after his return from the Holy Land.
The Attorney General's Office is yet to respond to Akbar's request.
Akbar's lawyers insist that state prosecutors have neither the right nor the legal foundation to bar Akbar, who is chairman of the Golkar Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives, from taking the trip.
"The plan is still one-month away and there is a lot of time for questioning ... so why the fuss? Those who complained over it must be (members of) PKI and its provocateurs," Hotma told reporters.
PKI is the acronym of the now forbidden Indonesian Communist Party, which was blamed for the failed coup against founding president Sukarno's regime in 1965.
The lawyers, who include Tommy Sihotang and Ruhut Sitompul, officially informed the state prosecutors of Akbar's much- publicized plans following a call from deputy attorney general for special crimes Haryadi Widyasa for Akbar to seek its approval.
"Like I just said, those who turn this matter into a problem are communists ... there is no rule that a suspect should ask for an approval from state prosecutors before going overseas," Hotma said.
"Even those who are prohibited to travel aboard can gain permission to go for two weeks considering that the trip is for the sake of religious interests or other necessary interests."
Akbar is now under the spotlight, facing both legal and political rulings against his suspected role into the misuse of Rp 40 billion (less than US$4 million) in state funds.
Akbar is yet to be summoned by state prosecutors after being declared a suspect on Jan. 7. State prosecutors have not slapped a travel ban on Akbar either, while other suspects have had such bans put in place, raising questions of preferential treatment.
State prosecutors have said that they were not worried about the possibility that Akbar would flee legal proceedings or destroy evidence, arguing that he was a public official and all important evidence had already been secured.
On Monday, the Office's spokesman Muljohardjo explained that as a suspect Akbar was bound to the investigators' schedule and should appear for questioning anytime the investigators summoned him.
"Although it's not explicitly written in the Criminal Code Procedure about a suspect seeking mandatory approval before leaving town, the investigators have the authority to examine whether it is necessary for a suspect to leave town during an investigation," he told a media briefing.