House may seek police help in graft probe into lawmakers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives' disciplinary body may turn to the police for assistance in its investigation of the alleged embezzlement of relief funds by lawmakers, the chairman of the body, Slamet Effendi Yusuf, said on Wednesday.

He said the body was scrutinizing three lawmakers who allegedly abused their positions to secure kickbacks from regional administrations for the distribution of relief funds for disaster-struck regions.

"We have clear evidence, including receipts detailing the transactions, but we have run into an obstacle: the three have denied" all knowledge of the crime, Slamet said.

Another problem, he said, is that the lawmakers used different signatures to sign the receipts, allowing them to deny any knowledge of the transactions despite the testimony of witnesses.

"We plan to confront all three of them at the same time and see how that goes. If that does not work, we may turn to the police. I think the police can tell if two signatures belong to the same person, no matter how superficially different they may look," said Slamet.

The investigation of the three lawmakers is expected to wrap up in January, he added.

The body previously sanctioned three lawmakers from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) in connection with the same case.

The three were given sanctions ranging from a reprimand by the disciplinary body to a recommendation to their factions that they be removed from the House budget committee.

Slamet said the three had violated the House's code of ethics by creating a situation that allowed corruption to take place.

However, he said it was unnecessary for the Corruption Eradication Commission to get involved in the matter.

The House's disciplinary body has summoned a number of lawmakers over the case, as well as their aides, who are believed to have acted as brokers to connect the lawmakers with local administration officials seeking to expedite the disbursement of state funds.

The body also visited several regions to hear testimony from local officials, but many of the officials refused to cooperate.

A number of lawmakers, mostly from the House budget committee, have been accused of promising larger amounts of government relief funds to local administration for kickbacks.

Many people, including Slamet, have said this type of practice was common in the House, but finding hard evidence to prove the crime was difficult.

According to House guidelines, the disciplinary body can impose sanctions on lawmakers ranging from a reprimand to dismissal from the legislative body.