Haj fund suspects handed over to AGO

Haj fund suspects handed over to AGO

JAKARTA: Police handed over two corruption suspects -- former religious affairs minister Said Agil Hussein Al-Munawwar and his former subordinate Taufik Kamil -- to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) on Friday for prosecution.

The National Police also presented their case files and several packages of evidence against them to prosecutors, who will lay charges against them.

Said and Taufik were arrested in June for embezzling less than Rp 700 billion (US$70 million) in haj pilgrimage funds at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Muhammad Assegaf, a lawyer for Said and Taufik -- a former director general of Islamic guidance and haj management at the ministry -- said on Friday he would again request that his clients be released from detention.

"We once asked that the police release them from detention, but they didn't respond seriously," he added. --Antara