Chief councillors held for corruption
Chief councillors held for corruption
Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Prosecutors arrested on Monday top councillors in the country's
second largest city of Surabaya on charges of corruption
involving more than Rp 22.5 billion (US$2.5 million).
Speaker of the Surabaya legislative council Muhammad Basuki
and his deputy Ali Burhan are being held at Madaeng prison in the
city. The arrests were made shortly after police submitted the
suspects' dossiers to the local prosecutor's office on Monday.
Basuki, a legislator with the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), claimed his detention was politically
motivated following an internal dispute among the party's elite
in Jakarta.
The chief councillor was recently sacked from PDI Perjuangan
by the party's central board, which is headed by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, and he had joined a new political group
chaired by film director Eros Djarot, one of Megawati's
staunchest opponents.
Basuki and Burhan are accused of embezzling Rp 22.5 billion in
state funds from the city budget, a case in which other
councillors and secretary of the Surabaya administration M. Yasin
are also implicated.
Apart from Burhan of the National Awakening Party (PKB), two
other deputies under Basuki, Puji Astuti and Herman Ricai, have
also been named as suspects in the same graft case. They were not
arrested, however.
"The case should be the responsibility of the council as an
institution, not myself and Ali Burhan personally, because the
funds had been enjoyed by all councillors," Basuki said, while
pledging to cooperate with investigators.
Head of the Surabaya prosecutor's office Luhut Pakpahan
defended his decision to detain the two senior legislators,
saying the arrests were based on proper legal procedures and were
aimed at smoothing the process of inquiry.
He said his office had strong evidence to arrest and charge
the suspects, citing a report from the development finance
controller (BPKB), which revealed the Rp 22.5 billion
embezzlement.
Only around Rp 1.7 billion of the embezzled funds were
recovered by prosecutors, Luhut added.
It was not clear whether other councillors would join Basuki
and Burhan behind bars for their alleged role in the scandal.
Investigators said the two detained suspects had issued
several decrees to approve the disbursement of state funds for
the benefit of council members between 2000 and 2002.
Luhut said Basuki and Burhan were charged with violating Law
No. 31/1999 and Law No. 20/2001 on corruption and may face 20
years in prison if found guilty.
The suspects would be held for 20 days and the detention was
extendible, the chief prosecutor said, adding that he would
submit their case files to court soon.
Iskandar and Sumarso, the lawyers representing the two
councillors, criticized the detention of their clients and
demanded that they be released.
The graft scandal has tarnished the image of the 45-member
council, where PDI Perjuangan and PKB are the two largest
factions, with 22 seats and 18 seats respectively.
Other councillors expressed concern over the arrest of Basuki
and Burhan, but said it would not affect their routine duties.
"With the detention of the chief legislator and his deputy, I
am in charge of the daily duties of the council," said Puji
Astuti, another deputy speaker from the military/police faction.