Amien refuses to name person behind document leak
Amien refuses to name person behind document leak
JAKARTA (JP): Amien Rais has refused to name a person he called very knowledgeable of "the scenario" for the leaking of classified documents charging Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto with corruption.
"I believe there's a person who knows well about the whole scenario," the respected political observer informed The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Amien said on Dec. 18 in Yogyakarta he received copies of the documents -- reports by Inspector General for Development Kentot Harseno to President Soeharto containing corruption charges against Haryanto. However, Amien refused to divulge the identity of the person who provided him with the documents.
"That person could become the starting point to trace the person or persons responsible for the nationwide uproar over the case," he said. "It would be unethical to reveal the person's identity to the press."
Amien, who was widely reported to be privy to inside information concerning the case, said he would be willing to provide the information to any team established to investigate the leak.
Despite the government's announcement clearing Haryanto of corruption charges, the case is by no means closed. Comments are still pouring in on it, especially in relation to the question of the person or persons responsible for the leaking of Kentot's reports to the public.
One of the latest comments came from the Forum for Development and International Studies who demanded that the person responsible for the leak be held accountable. The forum also called the documents slanderous, full of hatred and provocative.
Such reports could be used by any party as a tool to topple their political adversaries rather than as a means to inform President Soeharto of irregularities, the forum's statement said.
Both the forum's chairman, Fadli Zon, and Amien Rais criticized Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono for "creating new problems" because of his flimsy statements on the issue.
"The way he delivered the information invited a big question; namely, how come the person or persons responsible for the leak were not pursued," Amien said. "Flimsy information like that can become a source of new political tensions."
President Soeharto, in a statement delivered by Moerdiono, cleared Haryanto of corruption charges. Moerdiono also said that Haryanto was guilty of "administrative mistakes" and had reimbursed state funds he used for personal trips.
Amien, who, like Haryanto, is a leading member of the influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), called the debacle an unprecedented political ploy.
Political game
"The end of last year witnessed a new political game which has never happened before, and that is the leaking of state documents in order to hit at a political opponent," he said.
"The intentional leaking of the so-called administrative mistakes that Haryanto allegedly conducted was a new, dangerous modus operandi," he said.
Mudslinging among high-level government officials, whether delivered in plain words or wrapped in "toxic, obscure language", can erode the government's authority, he said.
The "political drama" which directly or indirectly involved Kentot, Haryanto, Moerdiono and even Vice President Try Sutrisno has been "a non-educative political spectacle", he said.
Amien also said that "the moral lesson" that should be learned from the political drama was the fact that Indonesia still enforces laws and fights corruption discriminately.
"The interests of corps or groups still hamper the launching of the investigation needed to trace the persons who leaked the classified state documents," he said.
A 1977 law on archives stipulates a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for people found guilty of intentionally revealing the contents of classified documents to a third party.
Meanwhile, the Antara news agency reported that three state- owned companies under the Ministry of Transportation received a "clean" classification from the Development and Finance Control Board in 1994.
Three other companies received qualified opinions from the state-owned audit agency. (swe/har)