Ginandjar moves to cell from hospital

Ginandjar moves to cell from hospital

JAKARTA (JP): Former minister of mines and energy Ginandjar
Kartasasmita left his hospital bed for a cell at the Attorney
General's Office on Friday for his alleged role in a US$24.8
million corruption scandal.

Ginandjar, who will be detained for 20 days, showed no emotion
as he left Pertamina Central Hospital, where he had been treated
over the past eight days.

The Attorney General's Office issued the arrest warrant last
Saturday but the detention was delayed due to Ginandjar's
illness.

Ginandjar, who will turn 60 next Tuesday, was clad in matching
cream sweater and trousers. He looked healthy.

Before leaving the hospital, Ginandjar claimed innocence and
blamed his arrest on political intervention.

"We all know that there has been an order from President
Abdurrahman Wahid to arrest me," Ginandjar, now a deputy speaker
of the People's Consultative Assembly, said.

"I feel this is a political arrest," he added.

However, he said he would not blame the government or its
officers as they were only doing their job.

He was escorted by, among others, the head of the
investigation team, Barman Zahir, Attorney General's Office
spokesman Muljohardjo, South Jakarta Prosecutor Antasari Azhar,
and also lawyers O.C. Kaligis, Muchyar Yara and Muhammad Assegaf.

According to Muljohardjo, his office decided to arrest
Ginandjar because physical examinations had failed to detect any
signs of illness.

"If he needs physiotherapy, we will take him to hospital or
invite doctors to the detention house," he said.

It is not clear, however, about the illness as doctors refused
to elaborate due to medical ethics and professional
confidentiality.

According to lawyer Assegaf, doctors had stated that
Ginandjar's condition is improving but he still needs a few more
days to rest. "There are also complaints from Ginandjar about a
urinating problem," Assegaf said.

"Doctors said that his prostate might be swollen," he added.

He said the arrest was illegal and that his client should be
tried at a military court given his status as a retired Air Force
vice marshal. The lawyers have filed a lawsuit regarding the
issue, Assegaf said, adding that the trial will start on Tuesday.

Ginandjar, a minister of mines and energy from 1988 to 1993,
was named a suspect for his alleged role in a graft case
involving state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina and PT
Ustraindo Petro Gas.

The deals between Pertamina and PT Ustraindo allegedly
violated regulations on contracts regarding technical assistance
because they covered oil fields which were still productive at
the time.

Ginandjar will spend the next 20 days by himself in a room
sized four meters by four meters and contains two beds.

But he will share a bathroom with six other detainees, who
unlike Ginandjar, share a bedroom with another person.

They are respectively, former director of PT Bank Umum
Servitia, David Nusa Wijaya alias Ng Tjuen Wie; vice president of
PT Bank Umum Nasional (BUN) board of commissioners, Kaharudin
Ongko; and former commissioner of Bank Modern, Samadikun Hartono.

The three are implicated in the misuse of state liquidity
support extended to their ailing banks.

Other detained suspects are Hendro Budiyanto and Heru
Supraptomo, former directors of Bank Indonesia who allegedly
abused their power in extending central bank emergency loans; and
PT Ustraindo's director Praptono H. Tjitrohupojo.

Earlier on Friday, President Abdurrahman Wahid said he had
ordered Attorney General Marzuki Darusman to arrest two people on
charges of corruption.

"I told him last night to arrest one person on the 15th
(April) at the latest and another on the 21st because there's
enough evidence," Abdurrahman said after Friday prayers in
Ciganjur, South Jakarta.

Abdurrahman, who is fighting for political survival, said the
order to arrest the two people was to keep an earlier promise to
arrest three people for alleged corruption.

Reports have speculated that Abdurrahman is planning to
prosecute a businessman lawmaker and another former minister,
also on charges of past corruption. (hdn/byg)