Ginandjar to do more time in AGO cell
Ginandjar to do more time in AGO cell
JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office will extend the
detention period of former minister of mines and energy Ginandjar
Kartasasmita which expires on Saturday, state prosecutors
announced on Thursday.
Prosecutor Barman Zahir, member of the joint investigating
team assigned to probe Ginandjar's alleged corruption, told
journalists after a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court,
that it was likely the office would extend the detention period.
Spokesman for the office, Muljohardjo, later said that the
detention period would be extended to 40 days.
Thursday's hearing, which opened on Wednesday, was based on a
suit filed by Ginandjar against Attorney General Marzuki Darusman
over the issuance of his second arrest warrant. The warrant,
issued on April 18, was effective for 20 days from April 9.
The second warrant was issued following the same court's
decision last week, which ruled that Ginandjar's detention before
April 9 was unlawful. The court said the case should be handled
by a joint team comprising military prosecutors and military
police.
Such a team was only formed on April 9.
Ginandjar's lawyers argued that the second warrant was
unlawful because only the state prosecutors had signed it and it
was effective before the date of issuance.
Barman said that, in compliance with the 1971 and 1997
Anticorruption laws and the 1983 Joint Decision of the Ministry
of Defense and Ministry of Justice, state prosecutors have the
power to carry out investigations and to detain suspects.
In the case that a joint investigating team is established to
probe a military officer implicated in corruption, the Attorney
General holds the power to coordinate the team, Barman said.
Ginandjar's lawyers insisted that state prosecutors have no
right to detain their client.
"The only one who holds the power to detain Ginandjar is his
immediate superior, the military chief," Muchyar Yara, leader of
the defense team, said.
Ginandjar, the suspect in a graft case that allegedly
inflicted US$24.8 million in losses on the state, was an Air
Force vice marshall when the alleged scandal took place. He
retired in 1996. (bby)