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)