Ginandjar still on sick leave in hospital

Ginandjar still on sick leave in hospital

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office had still not
arrested former minister of mines and energy Ginandjar
Kartasasmita by late Friday night, because it had not received
official military approval, despite an order from President
Abdurrahman Wahid demanding detention of the suspect.

The office spokesman Muljohardjo said that Ginandjar, a
suspect in a corruption case, had not been arrested and detained,
"pending coordination with the military chief".

"We have issued the letter of detention, but we have not been
able to execute it," he said.

Earlier on Friday, President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid said
that he had ordered Military chief Adm. Widodo A.S. to allow the
arrest of Ginandjar.

"I have ordered the Military chief Pak Widodo to immediately
issue a permit for the arrest of Pak Ginandjar. As for the
others, just be patient," he said after the Friday prayer in Ki
Ageng Muhammad Besari mosque in Ponorogo.

The President recently said that he had given Attorney General
Marzuki Darusman until the end of the month to detain "three
important people".

Before the Friday prayer, in a public dialog with local
farmers, he said that Ginandjar should be arrested soon.

"I can't stay long here in Ponorogo because I have important
work in Jakarta. That is, Pak Ginandjar must be arrested soon.

"On my way here, I received a call from Jakarta. The Attorney
General said that today he had issued the arrest order, but he
(Ginandjar) is sick. I said, just wait in the hospital until he
recovers," the President recounted, followed by applause from the
gathering.

Ginandjar, a retired Air Force three-star general, who is now
a deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, is
believed to have been involved in a graft case involving state
oil and gas company Pertamina and PT Ustraindo Petro Gas,
resulting in losses to the state amounting to US$24.8 million.

On Thursday Ginandjar evaded questioning at the Attorney
General's Office, claiming he was sick, and was later admitted to
the Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta. Doctors said he must
stay in the hospital for at least five days, but refused to
reveal details of the illness.

His room was tightly guarded by several military police
officers.

Meanwhile, Akbar Tandjung, House speaker and chairman of the
Golkar Party, said he had no objections to the planned detention
of Ginandjar, provided it were conducted in line with correct
legal procedures.

"No citizens are immune from the law. Principally, I have no
objection to the planned detention of Ginandjar, but it must be
conducted in accordance with the existing procedures.

"I have become confused with the planned arrest of Ginandjar
because of the fast change in the latter's status from a witness
to a suspect in the case. How fast is the process! I think it is
against the existing procedures," he said here on Friday.

On Tuesday, after turning down several summonses issued by the
Attorney General's Office, Ginandjar appeared for questioning as
a witness in the investigation of several other suspects in the
scandal. Those suspects are his successor Ida Bagus Sudjana,
former Pertamina president Faisal Abda'oe, and PT Ustraindo
director Praptono H. Upojo.

Earlier this month Abda'oe was held in an Attorney General's
Office detention cell, but as of Thursday he has been placed
under house arrest.

On Wednesday, Ginandjar was again summoned for questioning in
his capacity as a witness, but the session was halted after he
claimed that he was sick. Ginandjar, accompanied by lawyers
Muchyar Yara, O.C. Kaligis and Mohammad Assegaf, refused
examination by a doctor at the Attorney General's Office and
insisted on leaving despite the prosecutor's objection.

On Thursday, he was summoned as a suspect but failed to appear
due to his hospitalization.

Ginandjar's lawyers said the Attorney General's Office had no
right to question him as a suspect because he was still active in
the military during the period in question, the early and mid-
1990s. They argued that the case should be handled by a joint
team of investigators involving the military.

Marzuki Darusman boasted on Wednesday that he had secured a
permit from Indonesian Military Commander Admiral Widodo to
investigate the suspect that day. (nur/rms)