Attorney general urged to go after Ginandjar

Attorney general urged to go after Ginandjar

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Corruption watchdogs urged on Sunday new Attorney General Abdul
Rahman Saleh to review the decisions taken by his predecessor to
halt probes into high-profile corruption cases, including one
against Regional Representatives Council (DPD) speaker Ginandjar
Kartasasmita.

Lucky Djani of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said the
reasons behind the decisions by Attorney General M.A. Rachman to
stop the probe into the Ginandjar case and several other high-
profile scams were not transparent and confused the public.

"A letter to stop an investigation into the Ginandjar case was
signed on Oct. 12, while the Attorney General's Office (AGO)
later told the public that it decided to halt it on Oct. 23, just
three days after the new attorney general was sworn in. It shows
the AGO has deliberately covered up the case," Lucky told The
Jakarta Post.

He argued that the letter signed by the Deputy Attorney
General for special crimes Sudhono Iswahyudi stated that there
was insufficient evidence to continue the investigation, but
failed to detail what evidence the AGO had found and what it
needed.

Ginandjar was accused of marking up the technical assistance
contract (TAC) for the Balongan oil refinery in Indramayu, West
Java, causing the state to lose some US$24.8 million, when he
served as mines and energy minister.

Lucky said findings by the ICW showed the project was marked
up to benefit several people. It was also unclear whether the
expensive project had ever been carried out.

The late Feisal Abda'oe, a former state-owned Pertamina
director and Praptono H. Tjitrohupojo, director of PT Untraindo
Petrogas, were also declared suspects in the case.

Ginandjar and Faisal had been detained for questioning in 2001
but the AGO later released them, and declared the case closed due
to lack of evidence.

In mid-2002, the Balongan case was reopened but a few months
later Faisal died. As Ginandjar was an active military officer at
the time of the alleged crime, he first had to be investigated by
the military, hampering prosecutors' efforts to question him.

Emmy Hafild of the Berlin-based Transparency International
(TI) said the decision to stop the Ginandjar case was clearly
inappropriate, and the AGO should reopen it immediately.

"Although President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) has pledged to
prioritize the fight against corruption, and the new attorney
general has vowed to review all closed cases, we need action, not
just promises. The Ginandjar case will be a test for them," Emmy
told the Post.

She urged the AGO to also review all other high-profile graft
cases it had closed without clear reasons.

Prosecutors have stopped investigating nine suspects in the
embezzlement of the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) fund,
which caused an estimated Rp 15 trillion in state losses.

The freed suspects include tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim who was
reportedly held responsible for about Rp 10.1 trillion (US$1.1
billion) of the BLBI losses.

Another high-profile graft case allegedly involved former
President Soeharto.

Prosecutors have said they were unable to take Soeharto to
court as his team of doctors claim he is too ill to stand trial.
However, the former dictator looked healthy attending several
public functions recently and has met with several former leaders
including former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammad.

Rudi Satrio, a legal expert from the University of Indonesia,
backed the calls for the AGO to resume investigations into all
cases that were of public concern.

The prosecutors had to actively seek more evidence against the
suspects for trials. "According to the law, the AGO can open the
cases at any time. It just a matter of its willingness. The
public can help by submitting more data to them," he said.