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