Kendari councillors booked for graft
Hasrul, The Jakarta Post/Kendari
Defying protests, prosecutors here on Friday night arrested almost all members of the Kendari legislative council charged with involvement in a Rp 1 billion (US$106,382) graft case.
Twenty-two of the 25 councillors were taken at around 9:30 p.m. to the Punggolaka Penitentiary in Kendari, the capital city of Southeast Sulawesi province, shortly after being grilled for hours in connection with the scam.
The remaining three councillors from the military and police faction -- Rusli Rais, Hery Mulyono and Sukarso -- were not charged by the prosecutors, instead the prosecutors asked their respective commanding officers to investigate them.
Chief of the Kendari Prosecutor's Office Yayan Hartawan said the detention of the 22 councillors was done so they could more easily be questioned in the ongoing investigation.
"We just want to abide by the law," he said, explaining the reason for his decision to arrest the councillors, which was met by protests fro the councillors' supporters.
It is common practice to detain graft suspects to prevent them from fleeing the country. However, prosecutors often let some public figures remain free during trial, on the presumption that they are too well known to escape detection.
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the Kendari Prosecutor's Office to demand that it drop its plan to detain the local legislators for corruption.
Alighting from trucks and minibuses, the protesters descended upon the prosecutor's office and blocked the front gate.
From there, the protesters took turns making speeches, and lashing out at the prosecutors' plan to detain the councillors. Some protesters burned a used tire, which created tension in the area.
Protest leaders called out the Kendari Prosecutor's Office chief's name, demanding that he come out to meet the protesters. The demand went unheeded.
In their speeches, the protesters demanded that the prosecutors not detain the councillors, saying that they had not yet been proven guilty.
"The councillors are our representatives. If they are detained, we should be detained as well," shouted Rudy, a protester. The police monitored the noisy protest.
Abdul Rachman, lawyer for the 22 councillors, said earlier on Friday he was in the process of ensuring that his clients would not be detained.
There was no legal reason for the prosecutors to hold the councillors, because they were cooperative during the investigation, he argued.
"I can guarantee that our clients will not flee, destroy evidence or repeat wrongdoings. I don't understand why they have been detained," Abdul said.
However, the prosecutors did not listen to the lawyer's arguments and issued arrest warrants for the 22 councillors later in the day after negotiations with their families.
After hearing that the councillors were being taken to prison, the protesting supporters attempted to block the vehicles.
However, police dispersed the demonstrators after a clash, Antara reported.
Many regional councils across Indonesia are facing graft probes, with many members currently on trial and others named as suspects.
A few months ago, 43 of the 55 West Sumatra legislative council members were jailed by the Padang District Court for corruption. They remain free however, pending appeals.