Mayor defies police summons in election partiality case

Mayor defies police summons in election partiality case

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

Subardi, the mayor of Cirebon, West Java, said on Tuesday he
would not meet a police summons for questioning on suspicions of
breaking the Presidential Elections Law by campaigning for
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Speaking to journalists, Subardi claimed he was too busy
preparing a meeting for mayors grouped in the Indonesian City
Administrations Association (Apeksi), which will be held in
Cirebon on Wednesday, so he could not comply with the summons.

Subardi said he would instead send his lawyers to represent
him at the questioning scheduled for Wednesday.

Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Siswandi said the mayor's
lawyers could not represent him in the investigation.

He added the police did not require permission from the West
Java governor or the home minister to interrogate the mayor in
the case.

"Specifically for election-related crimes, investigations into
state officials like the Cirebon mayor require no permission from
their superiors, so we will go ahead with questioning him,"
Siswandi said.

He said the police had received the case file and hard
evidence against Subardi from the Cirebon Election Supervisory
Committee (Panwaslu) for follow-up.

The evidence includes a video compact disc (VCD) showing the
mayor campaigning for Megawati-Hasyim Muzadi ahead of the Sept.
20 election runoff.

In the VCD footage, Subardi is seen officiating the
establishment of the Mega-Hasyim Campaign Forum and appealing to
people gathered at the Sept. 16 meeting to vote for Megawati.

"We need the T-shirt bearing the pictures of Mega-Hasyim,
which was worn by the mayor. I have asked my subordinates to
coordinate with the Panwaslu to finish gathering the evidence,"
Siswandi said.

The Panwaslu declared Subardi on Monday a suspect of the
election partiality case, charging him with violating election
laws in campaigning for Megawati.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of six months in prison
and a Rp 6 million (US$666) fine if the suspect is found guilty.

Subardi, from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), also broke Government Regulation No. 9/2003 on
election campaigns, under which state officials must obtain
permission from official poll organizers to campaign, the
Panwaslu said.