Govt to auction smuggled sugar

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri finally issued on Monday a government decree that allows some 73,000 tons of illegal sugar, belonging to the Confederation of Primary Cooperatives Association (Inkud), to be auctioned.

Separately, the South Jakarta District Court declared unlawful on the same day the police's arrest of Abdul Waris Halid -- a suspect in the illegal sugar smuggling scandal that involved his elder brother Nurdin Halid, who is also chairman of Inkud.

Megawati's decision came after comments from National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar last week that the police could not store the staggering amount of sugar as evidence, for fear that it would spoil. Thus, he said, it would be more profitable for the government to auction it.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro- Jakti said, after a limited Cabinet meeting, that the government had not set a time yet for the auction as it was awaiting the court's decision.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade would be held responsible for the auction after clearance from the court was issued, said Dorodjatun.

Meanwhile, the arrest of Abdul was declared unlawful on the grounds that police personnel had breached the law during the arrest, particularly the law on customs and excise.

Judge Effendi, who presided over the trial, said that the body that was authorized to handle the case and arrest the suspect was the Customs and Excise Directorate General, not the police.

The verdict has altered the course that the investigation of Abdul will take. If law enforcers intend to press ahead with the case, the Customs and Excise Directorate General must produce strong evidence that Abdul was involved in the smuggling. Only based on that report, could police or prosecutors build a case against him.

Following the verdict, Abdul's lawyer Edison Petaubun demanded that his client be released from detention.

Abdul, who is now hospitalized at the Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, had filed a lawsuit against the police over his detention early this month.

The National Police will continue questioning other suspects in the illegal sugar smuggling case, including Nurdin Halid and Raja Baneerje, the president director of sugar exporter PT Phoenix.