House may seek police help in graft probe into lawmakers
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.