JAKARTA: Police investigators questioned on Wednesday former Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman I Putu Gede Ary Suta about his role in a high profile financial scandal.
National Police deputy spokesperson Brig. Gen. Soenarko Ardanto said on Wednesday that Suta was questioned for seven hours, during which police investigators asked 32 questions related to some documents and procedures on the use of the so- called Account No. 502.
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) had alleged earlier that IBRA and Bank Indonesia (BI) had misused funds totaling Rp 20.9 trillion from the Account No. 502 at BI.
Police investigators had said earlier that former BI Governor Sjahril Sabirin, former IBRA chairmen Cacuk Sudarijanto and Suta had already been declared suspects, but police said on Wednesday that Suta was questioned as a witness.
Account 502 was created by the government to pay third party funds in banks closed at the height of the economic crisis in 1998, but BI and IBRA had allegedly used part of the funds to recapitalize banks under IBRA's custody. --JP
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Nurcholish meets Sultan
YOGYAKARTA: Muslim scholar and presidential hopeful Nurcholish Madjid held a closed-door meeting with Sultan Hamengkubuwono X late on Tuesday night.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting that lasted for almost five hours until early Wednesday, Nurcholish, or Cak Nur, as he is popularly known, said that there were a lot of ideas discussed during the meeting.
"I learned a lot from the Sultan, especially regarding the current governance crisis," said Cak Nur, adding that as one of the Ciganjur Declaration leaders, the Sultan felt morally responsible in guarding the course of the reform.
Cak Nur also said that the Sultan seemed to indicate during the meeting that a new president was needed in the next government, arguing that the current government had failed to implement the reform movement's mandate. One of the indicators, he said, was the weakness of the current government in handling corruption, nepotism and collusion cases.
Cak Nur also said that he and the Sultan agreed that it was not necessary to stop President Megawati Soekarnoputri from competing in the upcoming presidential election.
"It entirely depends on the people's (voter's) judgment," he said.
Both also agreed that whoever won the presidential election should be treated as the one who had the right to govern the country.
"We have to accept whoever wins the election, good or bad," he said.
Indonesia will hold its first-ever direct presidential election on July 5, 2004. Megawati, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), plans to run for reelection. --JP
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U.S. considers RI access to Hambali
JAKARTA: The United States is seriously considering whether to grant Indonesian investigators access to a key terror suspect known as Hambali who was arrested in Thailand last year, the U.S. ambassador said Wednesday.
"We are well aware of Indonesia's desire to have physical access to him," Ralph Boyce told a group of Indonesians gathered at the U.S. Embassy to listen to President George W. Bush's State of the Union address.
"We will continue to consider the request for access very seriously," Boyce said.
Bush mentioned Hambali in his address, listing the Indonesian suspect's arrest as a victory in the U.S.-led war on terror.
Before he was arrested in Thailand in August, Hambali had been identified as the alleged operations chief of Jamaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda linked terror group blamed for a series of bombings in Indonesia, including the Oct. 12, 2002 nightclub blasts in Bali that killed 202 people.
The United States is holding Hambali and Indonesia has repeatedly asked to see him, so far to no avail.
Indonesian investigators told the Associated Press that Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, has been replaced by a new operations chief, an Indonesian militant known as Zulkarnaen. --AP