More graft revealed in legislative councils

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The reverberations created by last month's conviction of almost all of North Sumatra's councillors in a collective graft trial are now being felt in other local jurisdictions across Indonesia, with a number of similar corruption cases currently under investigation.

The Central Java Prosecutor's Office has sent second summonses to several officials and members of the provincial legislative council requiring them to report for questioning on Thursday in connection with the misuse of budget funds.

"Should they fail to appear again, it would mean that they are treating the law with disdain. The people will reach their own judgments," a spokesman for the office, Parda Nawawi Arief, said on Wednesday in Semarang.

He did not specify the amount of money involved in the alleged graft scandal.

Among those summoned as witnesses were the council secretary Didiek Samadikun, the chairman of the council's housekeeping committee, Asrofi, and Asrofi's secretary, Wahono Ilyas. They had pledged to show up at the prosecutor's office on Thursday.

Separately, local anticorruption activist Boyamin said the prosecutor's office should name the councillors as suspects should they fail to comply with the latest summonses.

Another antigraft activist, Jawade Hafidz, made a similar call. "If they (the councillors) are not guilty, why should they try to avoid the legal process," he said.

In the West Java capital of Bandung, a non-governmental organization (NGO) has alleged corruption involving Rp 7.95 billion (US$883,333) on the part of members of the city's legislative council.

The case was officially filed with the local prosecutor's office on Monday, the Bandung Institute of Governance Studies (BIGS) said on Wednesday.

BIGS director Dedi Heryadi said he had first revealed the case to the media 1.5 years ago, but there had been no response from the prosecutorial authorities.

The malfeasance allegedly involves funds allotted to the council out of Bandung's budgets for 2001 and 2002, he said, citing the results of an investigation conducted by his organization.

In a response to the report, Bandung's chief prosecutor, Yusma Kusumah, said his office was considering launching an investigation.

However, he said, the prosecution would abide by the presumption of innocence in handling the case.

In East Kalimantan, the prosecutor's office is probing a number of suspected graft cases involving the provincial council, including the misuse of around Rp 5.4 billion in local budget funds.

East Kalimantan Prosecutor's Office spokesman Sugeng Purnomo said in Samarinda that a number of councillors from East Kutai would soon be questioned as witnesses in the case.

He said his office was examining documents signed by council speaker Soekardi Jarwo Putro on May 18, 2004, authorizing the making of payments to each of the councillors.

Also, prosecutors in East Kutai regency, East Kalimantan, said they were probing a suspected corruption scam worth Rp 46.6 billion involving the regency's 2001-2002 budgets and the regental legislative council.

The council's speaker, Abdal Nanang from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has been named a suspect in the case, while council secretary Darly Yusuf is currently standing trial on charges arising out of the same case.

East Kutai chief prosecutor Rasidi said that three councillors -- Bahrid Buseng, Alex Rohmanu and Sukarni Joyohave -- had been questioned so far as witnesses in Nanang's case.

Last month, the Padang District Court jailed 43 out of 55 West Sumatra councilors for collective graft. All the councillors in Cirebon, West Java, have also been charged with corruption.

Similar corruption scandals are being unearther or finally acted upon in many other provinces and regencies around the country.

Local legislative councils hit by graft scams:

1. The Padang regental council

2. The West Sumatra provincial council

3. The Payakumbuh regental council

4. The Cirebon municipal council

5. The Garut regental council

6. The Ciamis regental council

7. The Bandarlampung municipal council

8. The Palembang provincial council

9. The Singkawang regental council

10. The Pontianak regental council

11. The Banda Aceh regental council

12. The Central Java provincial council

13. The East Kalimantan provincial council

14. The East Kutai regental council