Habibie questioned in Germany

Habibie questioned in Germany

JAKARTA: Two prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office
left for Germany on Friday to question former president B.J.
Habibie over the alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion (US$4 million)
in funds from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), a report said.

"Prosecutors Manaf Zubaidi and Ahmad Santoso left for Germany
today (Friday) to question Pak Habibie in an attempt to
accelerate the investigation into the scandal," Spokesman of the
Attorney General's Office, Moeljohardjo, said as quoted by El-
Shinta radio station.

Meanwhile, two of Habibie's lawyers Yan Juanda Saputra and
O.C. Kaligis will also fly to Hamburg on Saturday.

Previously, Habibie had failed to meet two summonses issued by
the Attorney General's Office as he was in Germany with his wife
who is undergoing treatment at a German hospital.

The scandal has drawn considerable interest following
revelations by former Bulog chairman Rahardi Ramelan, a suspect
in the case.

Rahardi told government investigators in October that Rp 40
billion of the Rp 54.6 billion Bulog funds had been channeled to
Akbar Tandjung, then the state secretary.

Akbar, who is also Speaker of the House of Representatives
(DPR) and the Golkar chairman, has maintained his innocence,
saying that he only witnessed the hand over of checks worth Rp 40
billion from Bulog's deputy chairman for finance Ahmad Ruskandar
to Raudlatul Jannah Islamic Foundation chairman Dadang Ruskandar.