Akbar set on his 'holy' plan

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.