Attorney General Rachman 'ready to resign' from post

Attorney General Rachman 'ready to resign' from post

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Attorney General M.A. Rachman expressed his readiness to
relinquish his position should he be found guilty of corruption.

However, he said he was confident he would be proven innocent
and that the court would acquit him of all charges.

"I do not want to speculate whether I will be replace or not,
the process is not in place yet. Let's just see what happens," he
said after attending Idul Fitri celebrations at the State Palace
over the weekend.

Rachman was responding to reports that the Public Servant's
Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) had filed a report with the
police alleging that he had been involved in corruption.

KPKPN has implied that the attorney general was involved in
corruption and lied when he failed to list two luxurious houses
and cars to the commission.

The investigation focused on Rachman's alleged ownership of a
house worth Rp 5 billion (US$561,700) in the Graha Cinere housing
complex in Depok, West Java, and several bank accounts containing
Rp 545.6 million and US$29,600.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has hailed KPKPN's move,
saying it gave her legal justification to either maintain Rachman
in his present position or replace him. She previously dismissed
suggestions to replace Rachman because of the absence of legal
justification.

Following KPKPN's report, the police are expected to
investigate Rachman immediately. The President has not announced
whether he will be suspended or not.

Rachman claimed recently that he had given the Graha Cinere
house to his daughter, while the amounts in his bank accounts
came from several East Java businessmen who he helped between
1999 to 2001.

He also reportedly gave contradictory explanations about his
assets to the KPKPN, prompting the commission last week to submit
the report to the police for further investigation as required by
a presidential decree on the KPKPN and its tasks.

The KPKPN also sent official notification to the President
urging her to suspend Rachman.

Rachman has said he is ready to face the legal process
following the KPKPN's report to the police.

"If I must face investigation, then I will. But I am still
waiting for the legal procedure," he said.