Nasrul seeks legal aid

JAKARTA (JP): A former executive of Jakarta's Indonesian Civil Servants' Corps (Korpri) office has engaged lawyers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) after current Korpri executives filed a complaint with police alleging that he defamed them.

LBH city and urban community chief Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto welcomed the case and praised the former official, Nasrul Idrus, for his courage in revealing misappropriation of Korpri funds between 1997 and 2000, totaling Rp 4.3 billion (US$430,000).

"We are prepared to provide Nasrul with legal aid in facing a possible legal action Korpri executives may initiate against our client. Any kind of counter-productive measure that threatens a witness who reports alleged corruption must be halted," Tubagus told a press meeting at the LBH office on Friday.

He said LBH would also urge the Attorney General's Office to immediately investigate alleged corruption cases at Jakarta's Korpri office, city administration and city council.

Nasrul, former head of the social and political division of Korpri's city chapter, disclosed the alleged graft on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a group of Kopri executives filed a complaint accusing him of slander.

Korpri aligned its political support Golkar until the fall of Soeharto, the party's chief patron, in May 1998. (01)