NTB governor, deputy charged with corruption
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Banda Aceh
Police have named West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Lalu Serinata and his deputy Thamrin Reyes as suspects in two separate corruption cases.
NTB Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Basri was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday that Serinata, who was the provincial legislative council speaker at the time of the alleged crime, was being charged with misusing the 2001 and 2002 provincial budgets.
Thamrin, meanwhile, has been named a suspect in the marking up of land clearance work to build official houses in 2002 for civil servants and councillors in Sumbawa regency, Basri said.
Basri said the West Nusa Tenggara Police were seeking permission from President Megawati Soekarnoputri, through Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, to summon the governor for questioning.
A number of councillors have also been named suspects in the misuse of the 2001 and 2002 budgets. The amount of corrupted money in not clear.
Basri said the police asked Thamrin to appear at 9 a.m. on Tuesday for questioning as a suspect in the Rp 525 million (US$58,333) land clearance project, which took place while he was the Sumbawa administration secretary.
The police earlier named two other suspects in the case -- land clearance project chief Endang Andriyanto and land procurement broker Lala Intan Gemala.
Meanwhile, in Naggroe Aceh Darussalam, prosecutors suspended on Saturday the detention of Langsa Mayor Azhari Azis, who is charged with corruption potentially involving Rp 34.8 billion, his lawyer Darwis said on Sunday.
Local prosecutors could not be reached for confirmation.
Azhari had been held at Keudah penitentiary since Sept. 29 as a suspect in the misappropriation of funds from his administration.
However, the Aceh Prosecutor's Office said it had so far only found evidence that Rp 16.5 billion of the money had been misused.
Darwis said the mayor had been temporarily released while prosecutors completed his case file on Saturday afternoon, which they will then submit to the court.
"If Pak Azhari is summoned again, he will comply with the summon," the lawyer said.
He said that after leaving the prison, the mayor returned to his home and observed the Ramadhan fasting month with his family.
Besides Azhari, prosecutors also named Langsa administration treasurer Kelana Putra as a suspect in the case. However, he has been missing since April.
Prosecutors said they had questioned 18 witnesses from the Langsa administration and several banks over the case.