KPK requests travel ban for Puteh
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) requested the immigration office on Friday to slap a travel ban on graft suspect Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh so it could investigate him.
The commission is also planning to ask the central bank to freeze all bank accounts belonging to the governor and request President Megawati Soekarnoputri suspend Puteh from his post.
A letter requesting the travel ban was sent earlier on Friday, KPK deputy chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said.
"We have the authority to take these measures against the suspect (Puteh) and can ask all the related institutions to freeze his assets," Tumpak said.
Tumpak was referring to Law No. 30/2003 on the KPK, which authorizes the commission to order the suspension of a state official who has been named a suspect, issue a travel ban and freeze accounts and assets for investigation purposes.
The commission declared Puteh a suspect in the alleged mark-up in the purchase of a Russian Mi-2 helicopter by the Aceh administration in 2002, which caused an estimated Rp 4 billion (US$425,500) in state losses.
On June 30, the immigration office issued a travel ban against Bram H.D. Manoppo, the director of PT Putra Pobiagan Mandiri, the company that brokered the purchase of the helicopter. The KPK has yet to declare Manoppo a suspect but has asked the immigration office to ban him from traveling abroad over fears he might flee during the investigation.
The commission is currently preparing a letter asking Megawati to suspend Puteh as governor, despite efforts by interim coordinating minister of political and security affairs Hari Sabarno, who is also the home affairs minister, to keep the governor in office.
Another KPK deputy chairman, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, said the commission was waiting to see whether Puteh would cooperate in the investigation.
"We have summoned for him for questioning on July 6. We'll see whether he is cooperative or not then," he said.
It is common practice for police or prosecutors to put a suspect deemed to be obstructing an investigation into custody.
KPK chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki pledged to keep the commission impartial and independent, despite possible intervention from other state institutions.
"We don't care about letters, statements or opinions from others (regarding the investigations). We make our decisions based on hard evidence," he said.
Hari had earlier sent a letter to the commission asking it to give "room to Puteh to conduct his duties as the head of the state of civil emergency in Aceh". The minister also suggested the KPK question Puteh in Aceh.
A series of alleged graft cases implicating Puteh have surfaced since the beginning of last year. During the martial law administration, Aceh prosecutors probed some of the cases but Puteh remained untouchable.
Lt. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, the former secretary of the government's martial law monitoring team, has suggested the KPK investigate 21 alleged graft cases during the one-year martial law in Aceh.