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.