Former West Java governor accused of bribing councillors
Former West Java governor accused of bribing councillors
Yuli Tri Suwarni and Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung, Mataram
Former West Java governor Nuriana has been accused of bribing all
100 members of the previous provincial legislative council to
cover up his alleged role in a Rp 224 billion (US$24.8 million)
graft case.
Former councillor Endang Rahmat said on Wednesday that Nuriana
disbursed Rp 33.4 billion to council members serving the 1999-
2004 term, when prosecutors were looking into a graft case
allegedly involving the governor.
"It was hush money to stop the councillors from pushing for a
probe into the Rp 224 billion corruption case against Nuriana,"
Endang said on Wednesday while testifying during the graft trial
of Kurdi Moekri, a former deputy speaker of the West Java
council.
Kurdi is on trial for a graft case involving Rp 33.4 billion
in housing aid for the 100 former councillors. Two other former
council deputy speakers, Suparno and Suyaman, are also suspects
in the case and the West Java Prosecutor's Office is currently
completing their case files.
However, prosecutors are not charging former council speaker
Eka Santosa in the case, claiming he had nothing to do with the
disbursement of the dirty money. Each of the 100 councillors
allegedly received Rp 250 million, with senior officials
reportedly pocketing much more.
Endang, who also chairs the non-governmental organization
Committee Concerned for Reform, said an investigation by the
Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) in 1999 found financial irregularities
in Nuriana's administration totaling Rp 224 billion.
According to the BPK, the use of this money, some of which was
disbursed for a lake development project, donations to the Al-
Ikhsan Foundation and a housing project for council members, was
against prevailing laws.
Endang said that when chairing a special committee for reform
in the council, he recommended the local legislature probe
alleged budget irregularities in Nuriana's administration.
The councillors ignored the recommendation because they
allegedly already had received Rp 33.4 billion in bribes from
Nuriana, Endang testified.
He said prosecutors should also investigate Nuriana in this
bribery case.
The West Java Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into
the governor in 2001 over the earlier graft case, but they never
filed charges.
Endang said he recently reported the Nuriana case to the
Corruption Eradication Commission in Jakarta for investigation.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB)
rallied on Wednesday to demand that former NTB governor Harun al-
Rasyid be tried for graft.
Prosecutors have said they are investigating Harun over
alleged corruption in the 2001 and 2002 provincial budgets
amounting to Rp 30 billion. At least 12 former members of the NTB
council have been named as suspects in the case.
Protesters entered the compound of the West Nusa Tenggara
Prosecutor's Office after blocking off the road outside the
complex in Mataram, causing a major traffic jam.
Separately, the Mataram District Court in West Nusa Tenggara
began hearing on Wednesday a graft case against West Lombok
Health Office head Lalu Sekarningrat, which allegedly cost the
state Rp 210 million in losses.
Lalu is charged with taking money from a businessman in
exchange for awarding him a Rp 7.5 billion health project in
2003.