Attorney general investigated in alleged corruption probe
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) began on Wednesday its probe into allegations of corruption involving Attorney General M.A. Rachman, who is under intense pressure to resign over the case.
His eldest daughter Chairunnisa was questioned for three hours starting at 10 a.m. by a three-member team of the commission over the ownership of a mansion in the upmarket Graha Cinere housing complex in Depok, West Java.
Wednesday's questioning followed findings by KPKPN, which accused Rachman of concealing some of his assets in his wealth report presented to the commission in July of last year.
Speaking to journalists after the inquiry, Chairunnisa said she provided ownership documents for the house to the team of auditors who asked her to clarify them.
The mansion was precluded from the attorney general's wealth report, which the auditors said contained discrepancies.
Chairunnisa confirmed that the house, worth some Rp 5 billion (US$561,000), was still legally hers, even though she said she sold it to businessman Hussien Tanoto for only Rp 950 million last year to buy some medical equipment that she needed to run a dental clinic.
She said her father bought the mansion from one of his subordinates at the Attorney General's Office in 1999 and transferred it into her name one year later.
It remains unclear, however, why the transfer of ownership took place just before Rachman submitted his wealth report to KPKPN.
Asked how Rachman was able to afford a luxury home, Chairunnisa said her father purchased it with the monetary gifts given to her younger sister, Cut Mutia Rahmi, when she was married on Oct. 22, 1999.
Rachman was a deputy attorney general of general crimes in 1999, and had a salary of Rp 5 million per month.
Chairunnisa was accompanied by her lawyer Wawan Iriawan, from Wiranto & Co. Attorneys at Law office, during the interrogation at KPKPN headquarters on Jl. Juanda in Central Jakarta.
Wiranto, a former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief accused of being involved in widespread human rights abuses across the country, is reportedly a close friend of Rachman's.
Public demand continued to mount on Wednesday for Rachman, derided for failing to fight major graft cases, to step down. Protesters and critics from various sectors urged Megawati to dismiss him if she was serious about eradicating corruption.
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais doubted that Megawati would heed the pressure on her to dismiss the attorney general.
"It is almost impossible for Megawati to do that. Only God knows," he said, adding that he was pessimistic that Rachman would resign.
Amien argued that none of the country's senior officials were willing to resign even though they had been convicted by the courts. He was apparently referring to House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who was found guilty of graft but remains in power.
"I don't know what to say because none of the government's senior officials are willing to step down. To be honest, I'm pessimistic about their willingness to resign," he said.
Despite mounting pressure against Rachman, several senior legislators, mostly from Akbar's Golkar Party, appear to be backing him to retain his post.
Akbar's close ally, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, the deputy chairman of House Commission II for legal affairs, said there was not enough evidence to remove Rachman.
"The attorney general was just clarifying his wealth report and that cannot be considered as involvement in any corruption case," Ferry said after a meeting with Megawati on Wednesday.
He said that the public should not jump to any conclusions by urging the attorney general to resign until hard evidence against him was found.
"We understand that it is the prerogative of the President to replace him (Rachman), but Commission II believes that it is too soon to dismiss him without solid evidence," Ferry said.