Ginandjar graft case to reopen this month

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office is close to establishing a joint team of investigators ready to continue investigation into an US$24.8 million graft case allegedly involving former minister of mines and energy Ginandjar Kartasasmita later this month.

Office spokesman Barman Zahir said on Friday that the National Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Sulaiman A.B. had assigned five military prosecutors and military police officers to join the team.

"We are just waiting for Attorney General M.A. Rachman to sign the team's letters of appointment ... Insya Allah (God willing) the investigation can proceed by the end of this month," he told a media briefing at his office.

The team comprises two senior military prosecutors Col. Y. B. Salamun and Col. Daria Iskandar, military prosecutor Lt. Col. Aris Sujarwadi, military police officers Col. Wahyono Hadi and Capt. Jhoni Parlindungan.

Barman said that the office had also assigned six state prosecutors to the team, including Deputy Attorney General for special crimes Haryadi Widyasa as chairman and director for investigation Untung Udji Santoso as secretary of the team.

The other members are: Soewandi, Syafrudin, Ferry Wibisono and Mashudi Ridwan. Barman explained that two civilian prosecutors from the earlier team: Fachmi and Yan Mere; would also be put back in the team.

The investigation was halted last year as a lower court found the investigation and the detention on Ginandjar, who is a retired three-star Air Force Marshall, unlawful. They cited the fact that there were no military prosecutors represented in the original investigative team although the suspect was a Cabinet minister for Soeharto's administration at the time of question between 1992 and 1993.

But a recent ruling of the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the lower court.

Ginandjar, his successor I.B. Sudjana, former state oil and gas company Pertamina president Faisal Abda'oe and PT Ustraindo Petrogas director Praptono H. Tjitrohupojo, have been accused of manipulating deals in violation of regulations regarding technical assistance contracts for oil development.

The state prosecutors found in its earlier investigation that the deals between Pertamina and PT Ustraindo violated regulations on technical assistance contracts because they covered oil fields which were still productive at the time.

The contracts with PT Ustraindo covered oil fields in Bunyu, E. Kalimantan, Prabumulih and Pendopo in South Sumatra, and Jatibarang on the north coast of West Java.