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)