EGP letter an attempt to topple President: NU
EGP letter an attempt to topple President: NU
JAKARTA (JP): Nahdlatul Ulama officials refuted on Friday
allegations the organization had been promised US$5 million by
suspects in the Bank Bali scandal to mute the case.
The organization's deputy secretary-general, Masduki Baidlowi,
denied the organization had ever received any money. He described
the allegations as part of the campaign to smear the reputation
of Abdurrahman Wahid, who chaired NU before being elected
President.
"It's a conspiracy to topple the President. They don't want an
NU leader to hold power," Masduki told The Jakarta Post on
Friday.
A widely circulated photocopy of a letter with the letterhead
of PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) and apparently signed last year by
company president Setya Novanto and director Joko S. Tjandra,
states the company will donate $5 million to NU if their case is
heard in the civil courts rather than the criminal courts, and if
the verdict in the case favors the defendants.
The Bank Bali scandal began in 1998 when PT EGP signed a
cessie agreement with Bank Bali to process Rp 904 billion in
loans owed to the bank by three closed banks. This agreement was
unnecessary because the loans were guaranteed by the government.
The Rp 546 billion commission paid to PT EGP allegedly was
used to help finance former president B.J. Habibie's reelection
campaign.
The South Jakarta District Court cleared Joko of all charges
in the scandal on Monday, saying the case was a civil not a
criminal matter.
While stressing the organization had not received any money or
ever been approached with the offer, Masduki pledged on Friday
that if any NU members were found to have received money they
would be processed according to the law, as well as receiving
organizational sanctions.
PT EGP lawyer Hotma Sitompul also refuted the authenticity of
the letter, saying his clients had never made such an offer to
NU.
"It's fake and rubbish. Anybody can write such a letter,"
Hotma said.
Abdurrahman's own National Awakening Party (PKB) also
described the letter as part of an effort to topple the
President.
"We heard about the rumor a long time ago, but I just saw the
letter now," said the secretary of the PKB faction at the House
of Representatives, Abdul Khaliq Ahmad.(jun)