House Speaker declared suspect

House Speaker declared suspect

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Just after he had opened the latest House of Representatives
session on Monday morning, Speaker Akbar Tandjung received bad
news: He had been named a suspect in the Rp 40 billion (US$3.9
million) scandal involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Akbar, also chairman of the former ruling Golkar Party, looked
relaxed after the session and said he had heard rumors that he
would eventually be named a suspect.

He then addressed a media conference, only to tell reporters
that he would not resign from his post as House speaker,
contending that he was innocent until such time as the court
found him guilty.

"I will remain as House speaker as the case occurred in the
past when I was not a House member," he said.

He added that, in any event, his party would not withdraw its
support for the administration of Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The announcement over Akbar's new status was made by Attorney
General MA Rachman in his year-end report on his office's
performance.

"We have raised the status of Pak Akbar from witness to
suspect in the Rp 40 billion Bulog scandal," Rachman said.

The decision was taken after the Attorney General's Office
received on Saturday the go-ahead from President Megawati to
investigate Akbar as a suspect.

Megawati gave her approval in response to a request filed by
the office on Jan. 1.

Rachman contended that his office had arrived at the decision
after state prosecutors had found no proof that Bulog money had
been used as claimed by Akbar, namely to supply more than 16
million packages of rice, instant noodles and soy sauce to poor
people in five provinces in Java in March and April 1999.

Akbar, who was then state secretary in president B.J.
Habibie's administration, contended that he had merely acted upon
an order from the former president to supervise the humanitarian
deliveries.

He claimed that he had not received the Bulog money, but
merely witnessed the handover of the checks from Bulog officials
to executives of the Raudlatul Jannah Foundation, which he
claimed had been appointed to carry out the food distribution
project.

His accounts, however, are in contradiction with statements
made by Bulog's deputy chief of finance at the time Achmad
Ruskandar, who told prosecutors that he handed over the checks
directly to Akbar.

Also, Raudlatul Jannah chairman Dadang Sukandar made a
different statement, saying that he did not receive the money. He
claimed that the money was transferred directly from Bulog to his
contractor, Winfried Simatupang.

Media reports alleged that Akbar had lied about the matter,
and in fact had channeled the funds to his Golkar Party
executives to finance the 1999 general election campaign.

In addition to Akbar, the Attorney General's Office has also
named former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan, Ruskandar and Dadang as
suspects in the misuse of the nonbudgetary Bulog funds.

The office is about to complete dossiers on prime suspect
Rahardi and will soon submit them to the court.

According to Deputy Attorney General for special crimes
Haryadi Widyasa, the fact that Akbar had gone beyond Habibie's
order and that the suspect had no authority either to supervise
or control such a humanitarian project were pertinent reasons for
naming him a suspect.

Haryadi referred to Presidential Decree No. 190/1998 on the
establishment of a task force for the improvement of a social
safety net program.

Based on the decree, the president would directly oversee a
team of supervisors and a team of controllers for such a project
without involving the office of the state secretary.

Earlier, Akbar, through his lawyers, had tried to shift the
blame to Habibie, arguing that it was Habibie's decision to use
Bulog money for the project.

However, Haryadi argued that Akbar could always have rejected
the order if he had wished.

"Even if Habibie's order was inconsistent with the decree,
Akbar had the right to reject it," he said.