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)