Beddu Amang's case to be reopened

Beddu Amang's case to be reopened

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office announced on
Thursday the dossier on former State Logistics Agency (Bulog)
chief Beddu Amang was complete, and the office was ready to
reopen the corruption case against him.

Beddu was indicted last year for his alleged involvement in
the 1995 land exchange scam between Bulog and wholesale firm PT
Goro Batara Sakti. This is the same case that resulted in former
president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra
being sentenced to 18 months in prison.

However, Beddu's indictment was dropped because at the time he
was a member of the People's Consultative Assembly and the
prosecutors failed to obtain the required presidential approval
before questioning him as a suspect.

The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office assistant for special crimes,
Andi Syarifuddin, said his office had received the dossier from
investigators at the Attorney General's Office on Wednesday and
had deemed it complete.

"We have sent a request to the investigators to submit the
evidence and to turn over the suspect to the office as soon as
possible," he told The Jakarta Post by phone on Thursday.

"Based on common practice, the prosecutors may impose an
arrest status on the suspect. We'll see if this is necessary for
Beddu," he said.

Beddu's lawyer Mohamad Assegaf said his client had not
violated any laws and should not be held responsible for the land
deal.

"The Bulog statute stipulates that the chief reports directly
to the president. In the case, Pak Beddu reported all of the
details of the land swap with Tommy's PT Goro to then president
Soeharto.

"The Goro supermarket, which was built on a plot of land
(obtained in the deal) in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, was
officially opened by Soeharto. So, by law, my client was not
responsible .... Moreover, there were witnesses who testified
that the state did not suffer any losses in the deal."

Assegaf said he was surprised that prosecutors took so little
time to study Beddu's dossier before declaring it complete.

"I just read in the newspaper this morning that the
prosecutors still needed to examine the results of the
investigation of Beddu ... but in the afternoon, they said that
it was already done," he said. (bby)