Mega allows questioning of Nurdin
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri granted the National Police permission on Thursday to summon lawmaker and businessman Nurdin Halid for questioning in the high-profile sugar scandal.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told journalists that the President notified him about the letter shortly after she signed it.
"We will start the questioning in a couple of days. We have been preparing investigators," the four-star general said.
Nurdin is a member of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) from the regional faction representing South Sulawesi province as well as the chairman of the Confederation of Primary Cooperatives Association (Inkud).
Based on the law, police or prosecutors must obtain permission from the president to summon a legislator for questioning.
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono confirmed that his office had received permission to quiz Nurdin.
"We will question Nurdin next week to establish his role and Inkud's position in the sugar case. As chairman, he should know about all major transactions involving his organization," said Suyitno.
Nurdin has been named a witness in connection with the smuggling of 73,000 tons of sugar from Thailand, which was found at warehouses in Jakarta, Bekasi and Bogor in West Java, as well as Makassar in South Sulawesi.
The illegally imported sugar has caused the prices of local sugar to fall below the production cost of between Rp 3,200 (34 U.S. cents) and Rp 3,300 per kilogram. The case caused serious losses for local producers.
The alleged involvement of Nurdin in the scam was revealed after the police interrogated Inkud president director Chairudin Noor last Thursday.
Nurdin's younger brother Abdul Haris Halid was declared a suspect in the same case along with seven other businessmen and officials.
The seven include Effendy Kemek, Jack Tanim and Andi Badar Saleh -- all from the consortium set up by Inkud to handle the sugar importation -- and Raja Bernaje, the president director of PT Phoenix Commodities Indonesia
The other three suspects are Wahyono, the head of the service division at Tanjung Priok customs and excise office, Yan Miral, the office head of the investigation section and Muhammad Zein, the office head of the intelligence sub unit.
Jack and Andi remain at large, while Raja Bernaje failed to comply with his police summons. The police have however detained Abdul Waris and Effendy for intensive questioning.
Suyitno said the police were also interrogating witnesses from state-owned plantation firm PT Perkebunan Negara (PTPN) X in the same case.
"We questioned PTPN X director Duduh Sudarachmat and several of his staff in connection with fake documents made by several of the suspects in the scandal," he added.
Suyitno said all the suspects were charged because they were responsible for the entry of the illegal sugar into the country and that several of them were accused of falsifying the documents.
Most of the charged suspects in the case had been questioned by the police, Suyitno said.
"Except for the three fugitives, we have questioned all of the suspects. We have identified who is the most responsible for the smuggling, but we need to question more witnesses to be able to complete their dossiers," he added.