Court rules Mulyana trial to go ahead
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Anticorruption Court has rejected initial defense arguments on behalf of General Elections Commission (KPU) member Mulyana W. Kusumah, a defendant in a high-profile bribery case.
The court also rejected his lawyers' request that he be released from custody and instead placed under house arrest.
The court said that the prosecution appeared to have a strong case against Mulyana arising out of an alleged attempt to bribe an auditor from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), and had laid their charges in accordance with the Criminal Law Procedures Code.
After throwing out the defense submissions, presiding judge Masruddin Chaniago adjourned the trial until Monday to hear witness testimony, including that of BPK auditor Khairiansyah Salman.
Masrudin ordered Mulyana to remain in detention so as to facilitate a smooth trial.
Mulyana said he would petition the court again for house arrest at a later date.
"There is no problem with the decision. I will file a similar request on another occasion," Mulyana said after the hearing.
Mulyana has been in detention since his arrest in April by Corruption Eradication Commission investigators, who caught him red-handed attempting to bribe Khairiansyah with Rp 300 million in an apparent bid to influence the results of a BPK audit on the use of election funds by the KPU.
He is now being tried on corruption charges carrying a maximum penalty of five years in jail and/or a maximum fine of Rp 250 million should he be found guilty.
Since his arrest, he has implicated other KPU officials in a widening corruption scandal.
In an earlier court session, Mulyana testified about a series of graft cases allegedly involving state auditors, including Khairiansyah.
Mulyana said Khairiansyah, who leaked the information on Mulyana's alleged bribery attempt, received Rp 750,000 per week from the KPU. An audit team from the BPK had also allegedly been receiving Rp 11 million on a monthly basis from the KPU since January 2005.
Separately, KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, who is standing trial on corruption charges arising out of an insurance scheme for all KPU officials, sought the court's permission to seek treatment for what he claimed was coronary heart disease.
"I have submitted a request from Pak Nazaruddin to the Anticorruption Court for permission to undergo acupuncture therapy at the Pondok Indah General Hospital once a week," Nazaruddin's lawyer Hironimus Dhani said on Monday.
Hironimus said that former KPU secretary-general Safder Jussac should have known about the direct appointment by his client of the insurance company as Jussac signed the decree on the company's appointment on June 25, 2004, before his client approved the deal five days later.
Nazaruddin is accused of directly appointing PT Bumida Asuransi, instead of putting out the project to competitive tender. He also allegedly received US$45,000 in kickbacks from the insurance company.
Also on Monday, the court resumed hearing the graft case involving acting KPU secretary-general Sussongko Suhardjo. Monday's session was given over to the hearing of prosecutors' responses to the earlier defense pleas.
Prosecutor Suwarji said the charges met the legislative and substantive requirements as they clearly identified the defendant and explained his role in the case, the place where the crime occurred and the time when it happened.
The prosecution urged the court to reject the defense arguments and continue the trial. The court will give its response to the defense pleas on Thursday.