Habibie testifies in Bulog case via video linkup

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former president B.J. Habibie testified in the Buloggate corruption scandal on Tuesday from Hamburg, Germany, through a video linkup, but the court failed to properly cross-examine him, apparently due to lack of time.

Habibie was testifying during the trial of former minister of trade and industry and one-time chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Rahardi Ramelan in the South Jakarta District Court.

The live video linkup, a technological advance being used for the first time in the courts here, lasted only two hours in accordance with the court's agreement with SCTV television, which provided the necessary equipment for the linkup.

Presiding Judge Lalu Mariyun, who had earlier insisted on hearing Habibie's testimony to allow the public to be informed of all the evidence in the corruption scandal, repeatedly reminded the prosecutors and the lawyers not to ask Habibie "the same things" due to time constraints.

The judges, chief prosecutor Kemas Yahya Rahman and the lawyers questioned Habibie mostly about technicalities concerning the use of Bulog funds to finance an emergency food aid program for the poor in 1999.

Habibie is a key witness in the case against Rahardi, who is accused of misusing Rp 62.9 billion (US$ .... ) of Bulog non- budgetary funds.

Habibie, who has ignored three consecutive court summonses, currently lives in Hamburg where his wife is undergoing medical treatment.

Testifying from the Indonesian consulate in Hamburg, Habibie stood by his earlier statements that he was the one who ordered the food program for the poor in 1999, including the disbursement of Bulog money for the program.

Up to Rp 40 billion of Bulog funds were allocated for the food program, while Rp 10 billion was allocated for distribution purposes, he said. He claimed he knew nothing about the rest of the money.

Then minister/state secretary Akbar Tandjung managed the food program while then Minister of Defense Wiranto was responsible for security.

Earlier, Wiranto testified that some of the money was used to maintain security during the 1999 general election and the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Clad in black pants, brown batik shirt and black kopiah, Habibie said that he had no knowledge about the progress of the program as "there were no reports about it."

"As the president, I was responsible at the policy level. It was my subordinates who managed the details of the program. I am telling you the truth," said Habibie, who testified under oath.

After the hearing, lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi admitted that it had not been able to reveal the facts of the case, which allegedly involved the Golkar Party, due to a lack of time.

"I know that it (revealing Golkar's involvement) is important, but we have priorities. We have to ask him first about the indictment against Rahardi," he told reporters.

Many had earlier expected that Habibie's testimony would clarify several facts in the case, dubbed Buloggate II. Some of the Rp 40 billion, which was handed over to Akbar -- the current speaker of the House of Representatives and head of the Golkar party -- was allegedly used to finance Golkar's campaign in the 1999 election.

Akbar is currently being tried separately in the Central Jakarta District Court with two co-defendants.

The House of Representatives failed on Monday to set up a special committee of inquiry to probe the scandal, saying that the current legal process was adequate.