Newsmen fight Bustanil's supporters

Journalists and supporters of the former chief of State Logistics Agency (Bulog), Bustanil Arifin, a suspect in a graft case, were involved in a brawl on Thursday when he accompanied the Jakarta Police to submit his dossier to the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutor's Office on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta.

The incident occurred when Bustanil's relatives and sons blocked more than 20 journalists who tried to interview and photograph the 73-year-old suspect while he was leaving the building, after the police submitted his dossier.

Bustanil, a former state minister of cooperatives, was escorted by around 10 people, including his three sons to his car.

Some journalists tried to push Bustanil's supporters aside and a brawl soon erupted. Bustanil watched from his car.

The fight lasted until some 30 minutes after Bustanil's car had left, followed by his supporters.

But one of Bustanil's sons was left outside the prosecutor's office and he was attacked by some journalists. A number of employees at the office immediately came to separate them.

No one was seriously wounded during the brawl.

Bustanil is accused of misusing Rp 10 billion (US$1.15 million) of Bulog funds when he held the agency's top post in 1990. He has been charged under the anticorruption law which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.

He was detained on Jan. 9 for 17 days at police headquarters, and has since then been under house arrest. --JP