More councillors to stand trial on corruption charges

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon

The Cirebon Prosecutor's Office, West Java, has submitted to the court the case files on councillors charged with corruption, after intensively investigating the cases for more than a year.

The suspects, including Cirebon municipal legislative council speaker Suryana and his deputies, Sunaryo and Haries Sutamin, will stand trial soon for allegedly misappropriating Rp 1.3 billion (US$145,000) from the 2001 city budget.

Prosecutor's Office head Suraini said over the weekend that the case files had been handed over to the Cirebon District Court on Thursday.

"It shows we are committed to eradicating corruption carried out within my jurisdiction," she said.

Seven other councillors charged were budget committee members of the council -- Enang Iman Gana, Setiawan, Jarot Adi Sutarto, Achmad Djunaedi, Agus Sompi, Suyatno HA Saman and Moch. Safari Wartoyo.

"The suspects have been indicted for violating Law No. 31/1999 on the eradication of corruption," said Suraini.

There was, she said, a possibility that the number of suspects would increase as the intensive investigation was continuing into the remaining 20 members of the council.

"Let's wait for the investigation results. The number of suspects may rise," she added.

Responding to the graft charges, Sunaryo said he and other councillors were ready to face legal processing. "As a good citizen, I must hold high the supremacy of the law. I'm ready to face a court trial," he said.

He said, however, the decision to name the councillors as suspects was "discriminatory and politically motivated", as no officials from the Cirebon administration had been charged in the same scandal.

Sunaryo questioned the reported acquittal of former Cirebon mayor Lasmana Suriaatmadja and his ex-deputy, Agus Al-Wafier, in the same case.

Sunaryo said that both the legislative and legislative bodies were involved in drafting the budget. "But why are only councillors being held responsible? It was impossible that they (executives) had not approved the budget, too. It shows that the prosecutors are not being fair," he added.

He said there were clear indications of political maneuvering from the prosecutor's move to hand over "hastily" the dossiers to the court, following a series of student protests.

"The legal process should run independently, without any pressure whatsoever," he said.

Sunaryo's arguments were denied by Suraini, who said her office had been working professionally, without pressure from any party.

She also denied she had acted discriminatorily in determining the suspects after her office started the probe into the scam in May 2003.

As many as 30 Cirebon municipal councillors, serving during the 1999 to 2004 period, had been questioned intensively.

Suraini added the legislators were declared suspects due to their direct involvement in determining the 2001 budget, which, she said, had violated existing rules.

The council had allocated Rp 997 million for its operational funds from the 2001 budget, which allegedly exceeded the requirements set under Government Regulation No. 110/2000 on the financial status of regional councils.

"Under the regulation, the funds may not be more than Rp 400 million," Suraini added.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the funds were misused by the councillors for personal gain, she said.