NTB governor, deputy charged with corruption
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.