Econit declared 'clean' after director questioned

Econit declared 'clean' after director questioned

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police declared consulting agency
Econit "clean" after questioning its former executive director
Rizal Ramli in connection with allegations of graft against a
senior economics minister.

The director of the National Police's general crimes, Col. Edi
Darnadi, told reporters on Friday that no names were mentioned in
the 1996 Econit report as was believed by American professor
Jeffrey A. Winters.

Winters said at a news conference here on Oct. 12 that
according to the Econit report, Coordinating Minister for
Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita was thought
to have colluded with copper and gold mining giant PT Freeport
Indonesia.

"In the report, however, not a single name was mentioned as it
dealt only with policies in order to give suggestions to the
government," Edi said.

Winters' remarks, which were strongly denied by Ginandjar,
were said to have humiliated the minister.

Rizal said that the names of the officials, believed to be
involved in the collusion, were exposed in detail in the Asian
Wall Street Journal.

Rizal, a reform movement supporter, was summoned to the
National Police headquarters as a witness and questioned for two
hours. Top lawyers Adnan Buyung Nasution and Todung Mulya Lubis
were scheduled to accompany him but failed to show up.

On arriving at the police headquarters on Jl. Trunojoyo in
South Jakarta, Rizal said he was glad to be invited by the police
especially if police focused the probe on alleged collusion and
corruption (KKN) practices.

"Econit has enough and complete data on KKN so as a good
citizen I'll help the police, but if it is connected with
humiliation charges, it is irrelevant."

When pressed whether the police would also probe on the
alleged corruption and collusion, Edi said that such measures
would be determined by higher ranking officials.

"We'll wait and see what the senior people say," he said.

"For the moment, Rizal's testimony is enough, but we may
summon him again at any time if we need to build the case," Edi
said, adding that the police had also issued a summons against
Binny Buchori, an organizer of the discussion at which Winters
made his comments about Ginandjar.

Binny, executive secretary of the International NGO Forum on
Indonesian Development (Infid), was scheduled to testify on
Friday but failed to answer the summons.

"I have told the police I cannot come today because I am
organizing a meeting," Binny said, referring to the two-day
International Consultation Supporting Democracy in Indonesia
being held here on Friday and Saturday.

"But I do intend to come with my lawyer Abdul Hakim Garuda
Nusantara," she said.

She said she would tell the police that the discussion in
which Winters spoke was organized among others by Infid,
Indonesian Corruption Watch and Gempita, another private group
focusing on corruption.

The talks were on alleged corruption cases related to the
World Bank and how to prevent similar cases, she said, for which
Winters was invited as a source.

On Thursday, the head of the giant PT Freeport Indonesia
Adrianto Magribi was questioned for more than six hours at the
Attorney General's Office, Barman Zahir, spokesman for the
Attorney General's Office, confirmed on Friday.

Barman said businessman Aburizal Bakrie, Freeport Chairman
James Moffett and former director general for mines Kosim
Gandataruna would also be questioned next week in relation to
alleged corruption in PT Freeport Indonesia. (emf/anr)