Ex-councillors to be questioned

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

The Bogor Prosecutor's Office will summon three former councillors as witnesses for questioning on Tuesday in connection with alleged graft involving around Rp 5.53 billion (US$607,692.31).

The three former councillors are T. Tatang Muchtar, Amiruddin Uhar and Djoko Mulyono. They were deputy speakers for the 1999- 2004 period. Tatang is now the current Bogor Council speaker for the 2004-2009 term.

"It is impossible that a crime of this magnitude could have been committed by only one person. He must have received help from his colleagues," chief prosecutor Kornelis Lere said on Monday. "If there is enough evidence, the three may be detained, as we have done with former council speaker Muchamad Sahid."

He made his statement when receiving students from a number of universities in Bogor.

Lere said that the prosecutor's office had notified West Java Governor Danny Setiawan that they wanted to question the three men.

"The governor should issue his consent in 48 hours as stipulated in Article 106 (4) of Law No. 22/2003 on the composition and structure of legislative bodies. This article also states that if a legislator is alleged to have committed a crime involving corruption or subversion, the prosecutor's office or the police do not need to request the consent of the president, the minister of home affairs or the governor, as the case may be, to question the legislator concerned. We only need to submit a report," he said.

Sahid has been detained in the Paledang penitentiary since Sept. 23 after he was questioned for more than five hours by the prosecutors on his role in the alleged corruption.

A letter from Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto on Monday requesting the prosecutors to release Sahid failed to do him any good.

"We received the letter from the mayor requesting us to release Sahid. It was not the first one. We have received many such requests, including one from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)," Lere said, adding that Sahid was a councillor representing the PDI-P.

"However, we are not going to release Pak Sahid. The prosecutor's office must not be interfered with by anybody. We are not investigating a politic case. This is purely criminal."

The letter from the mayor dated Sept. 25 requested the prosecutor's office to release M. Sahid as he was needed in his capacity as deputy mayor. The letter also stated that Mayor Diani Budiarto would guarantee that he would not abscond.

Lere said that Sahid had been detained in respect of alleged involvement in graft during his term as the council speaker, and not during his time as the incumbent deputy mayor.

Sahid's case file is expected to be submitted to the Bogor District Court in the near future.