Habibie to testify against corruption suspect Akbar

Habibie to testify against corruption suspect Akbar

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former president B.J. Habibie is expected on April 8 to
testify against corruption suspect and House of Representatives
Speaker Akbar Tandjung, the Central Jakarta District Court
announced on Monday.

The announcement was made at the third hearing of Akbar,
former minister/cabinet secretary under Habibie. Akbar has been
accused of involvement in the misuse of Rp 40 billion (around
US$4 million) in funds belonging to the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog).

Presiding Judge Amiruddin Zakaria also planned to summon
former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan, who is currently on trial at
the South Jakarta District Court in a similar case, and Haryono
Suyono, former coordinating minister of social welfare and
poverty eradication.

Other witnesses scheduled to testify are two Bulog employees
-- Achmad Ruskandar and Ishadi Suwarta. They are believed to have
had an important role in the disbursement of the funds in 1999.

"The court decided to continue the trial, as we accepted the
prosecutors' indictment," Amiruddin Zakaria told the Court.

Initially, state prosecutor Fachmi told the court that he
would summon witnesses but excluded Habibie, arguing, "I have yet
to prepare a summons for the former president, who is currently
residing in Germany." Nevertheless, Judge Amiruddin ignored the
objection.

Akbar, along with his codefendants Dadang Sukandar and
Winfried Simatupang, is charged with violating the Anticorruption
Law, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in jail.

Akbar was assigned by Habibie to implement a charity program,
but the funds never reached the intended recipients.

The Attorney General's Office once questioned Habibie over the
case by sending its prosecutors to Germany on the grounds that
Habibie could not leave his wife, Hasri Ainun Habibie, who at the
time suffered from a lung problem.

Habibie finally appeared before the investigators as a witness
in February when he admitted that he had assigned Akbar to
administer the use of Bulog funds for a food for the poor program
in 1999.

Without elaborating any further, Habibie, however, underlined,
"I asked Akbar to comply with the regulations while carrying out
the charity duty."

Many believe that the money was used by the Golkar Party to
fund its campaign for the 1999 general election. Golkar named
Habibie as its presidential candidate.

Monday's hearing took place at Hall B of the Kemayoran
fairground in Central Jakarta.

Earlier, defense lawyers demanded that the court nullify the
indictment, arguing "it was not clear and was obscure."

The defense lawyers added that the dossiers were not only
obscure in content, but also confusing, as the prosecutors had
clearly inserted more material describing Habibie's role during
the alleged graft scandal than that of Akbar.

"We considered the prosecutors made their indictment
completely, including the related facts and descriptions of
crimes suspected to have been carried out by the defendant.
Therefore, we reject an objection by the defendant's lawyers,"
Amiruddin told the court.

After the hearing, Akbar, who was released from detention on
Friday, said, "I don't feel disappointed with the judges'
decision. I respect it. And, as you heard ... I will file an
objection to it," he said.