Embattled Baramuli says he has done nothing wrong
JAKARTA (JP): Former Supreme Advisory Council (DPA) chairman Arnold A. Baramuli appeared confident on Thursday after being questioned as a witness in the US$70 million Bank Bali scandal.
"I will never be declared a suspect," he said after being questioned at National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta.
The 69-year-old, who was recently elected a South Sulawesi regional representative for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), added: "The House of Representatives' special team investigating the scandal said that I wrote a letter to President B.J. Habibie about the scandal. That's no crime."
"The letter did not say that I had received money or facilities from either Djoko (Sugiarto) Chandra or Setya Novanto," said Baramuli, who appeared to be overwhelming self- confident of his position.
He was referring to the two PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) executives, one of whom is detained in the same building where Baramuli was questioned for about four hours.
"The media also wrote that I had received up to Rp 40 billion from the Bank Bali deal. If anybody has proof, show it to me," the former South Sulawesi governor said.
Baramuli said he received the police summons for the questioning one day before his appearance. He said he was asked to explain his alleged role in the scandal.
He acknowledged that his letter suggested the President replace Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman Glenn Yusuf with the latter's deputy, Pande Lubis.
"So what? I have the right to make recommendations. If it's about changing the banking structure, that's intervention. But, changing an individual in the structure? That's no intervention."
Baramuli said the police investigation of the Bank Bali scandal would be completed within a month.
While Baramuli was being questioned, some 200 employees from Bank Bali's main office, as well as several branches in the capital, arrived at the police compound to provide moral support to their former bank director, Rudy Ramli.
Novanto's free
Rudy, three other members of the bank's board of directors -- Rusli Suryadi, Firman Soetjahja and Henri Kurniawan -- and Djoko Sugiarto Chandra have been detained since Wednesday, pending further investigation of the case.
Setya Novanto, who was also detained, was released at midnight on Wednesday. Police sources said Novanto had insisted that his status as an MPR member prohibited police from detaining him without the President's written permission.
Arriving in some 40 cars, the employees, who came from the bank's various divisions, were adamant that their former boss, was "a good and honest man".
The bank's coordinator of strategic development Andrew Hardi, who was allowed to meet Rudy for a few minutes, said Rudy was not well.
"He has stomach problems. He is in no condition to be detained. He's so upset by this whole mess. He hopes police will one day find out the truth," said Andrew, who has worked at the bank for 13 years.
When told by police that not all of the employees could meet Rudy, the mostly female bank workers burst into tears.
"Please Pak Polisi, we want to see Pak Rudy just for a couple of minutes," one woman begged.
Police finally acceded to the bank workers' request and allowed Rudy to appear for a few seconds from a third floor window of the Detectives Directorate office.
Tears
The appearance of Rudy, who was joined by Henri Kurniawan, led the bank employees to tearfully cry out: "be strong and don't be afraid."
Overwhelmed by their employee's calls, Rudy and Henri also began to cry.
When Baramuli made his appearance, a handful of bank employees remained in the police compound.
One of the women defiantly asked Baramuli if he was happy that Rudy was in police custody.
Thinking she was a reporter, Baramuli said that he had not ordered Rudy's detainment.
"Pak Baramuli, it must be so nice to have so much power. You should be the next President, don't you think?" said the woman.
Baramuli replied: "Don't say that. I'm only for Habibie."
Meanwhile, Kanon Armiyanto, Rusli Surjadi's lawyer, said police had not provided the suspects or their lawyers any reasons for the detainment.
"The only logical reasons could be, if the suspect flies off somewhere, or tampers with evidence," Kanon said.
"This arrest should not have happened. They were being questioned to complete the dossiers sent back recently by the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office. Suddenly, orders came at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday that the suspects had to be detained."
The lawyer speculated that the move, among others by the National Police, was an attempt to back Habibie for the presidency in the forthcoming MPR General Session.
Konan said the detainment was "so that Pak Habibie can speak out that he has handled the whole Bank Bali case responsibly".
He added that as of Wednesday, one of the 10 suspects had been dropped from the list of suspects and declared a witness.
"Irwan Gunardwi, Bank Bali's legal assistant, is no longer a suspect. Police did not have enough evidence against him."
The Bank Bali scandal revolves around the transfer of Rp 546 billion from the bank to EGP as a commission for helping the bank recoup some Rp 904 billion in interbank loans to closed-down banks. (ylt)