Businessman Probosutedjo denies bribing prosecutors

Businessman Probosutedjo denies bribing prosecutors

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After not showing up at the Attorney General's Office (AGO)
twice, businessman Probosutedjo was able to make it on Thursday
for a questioning session related to his confession that he had
bribed court officials to win his appeal case.

The half-brother of former president Soeharto met on Thursday
with state investigators for around two hours.

Probosutedjo, however, only admitted that he did not have any
direct contact with prosecutors when his case was being heard at
the district court and high court.

"I have never been directly in touch with prosecutors and I
have never given them any money. It is my lawyers who asked for
money," Probosutedjo told reporters as quoted by Antara after the
questioning.

He said his lawyers Sonny Dantje Lumantow and Richard Marbun
had asked for legal fees totaling Rp 5 billion (US$500,000). He
displayed the transfer receipt to the investigators.

However, it remains unclear whether the legal fee was used to
bribe prosecutors and judges at the Central Jakarta District
Court and the Jakarta High Court to lessen the punishment in his
graft case since Probosutedjo claimed that he did not know what
his lawyers did with the money.

Probosutedjo was convicted for embezzling reforestation funds
that cost the state over Rp 100 billion. He was sentenced to four
years in jail by the Central Jakarta District Court in 2003, but
the Jakarta High Court later halved the term. Currently, his case
is still on appeal at the Supreme Court.

He previously confessed to the media that he had spent a total
of Rp 16 billion to bribe court officials during his legal
battles. He also has claimed that his former lawyer, Harini
Wijoso, asked specifically for Rp 5 billion to bribe Chief
Justice Bagir Manan.

Probosutedjo said he was the one who reported the bribery to
the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which later provided
him with witness protection that may clear him of bribery
charges.

His confession prompted the Attorney General's Office to
question him about whether he was referring also to prosecutors
when he said he bribed court officials.

AGO spokesman Masyudi Ridwan said the prosecutors might
confront Probosutedjo together with his former lawyers to verify
the businessman's claim that he did not bribe any prosecutors.

"The Deputy Attorney General for Supervision will handle the
case and then decide whether Probosutedjo and both his former
lawyers should be confronted to clarify this matter," Masyudi
said.

The high-profile allegations have cast a large spotlight on
the "court mafia" in this country, which has generally been
denied by all parties involved.

The KPK had earlier unveiled such a case involving Jakarta
High Court clerks, who were caught red-handed receiving Rp 250
million in bribes from the lawyer of suspended Aceh governor
Abdullah Puteh. The lawyer, Tengku Syaifuddin Popon, was
sentenced to two years and three months, while the court clerks
Ramadhan Rizal and M. Soleh were jailed for two years and six
months.

Although the lawyer paid the bribe while he was handling
Puteh's appeal case, the suspended governor, who is serving his
10-year jail term for graft, has never been asked to testify in
the bribery case.