Nurdin Halid questioned

Nurdin Halid questioned

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi: The provincial prosecutor's
office plans to question a member of the House of
Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly this week over the
embezzlement of Rp 50 billion (US$3.85 million) from a farmers
cooperative fund.

Chief prosecutor Gagoek Subahyanto acknowledged he had been
pressured to make legislator Nurdin Halid face legal authorities
in Jakarta. The commander of the Wirabuana Military Command, Maj.
Gen. Suaidi Marasabessy, however, has guaranteed security in the
province during the investigation into the alleged embezzlement
here.

On Saturday, hundreds of Hasanuddin village cooperative
employees, taxi drivers, youth activists and students
demonstrated at the prosecutor's office and the local legislative
council, demanding that Nurdin be taken to Jakarta.

Nurdin, a former executive of the Hasanuddin cooperative,
allegedly embezzled the funds between 1992 and 1995 when his
cooperative bought cloves from farmers in the country's clove
trading scheme set up through the Clove Marketing and Buffer
Stock Managing Agency (BPPC).

President B.J. Habibie signed an approval form on July 30
allowing prosecutors to question the legislator. (37)