'Nurdin, Puteh cases window dressing'

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

Although law enforcers have stepped up a gear in their corruption investigations involving lawmaker Nurdin Halid and Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh, skepticism remains widespread that the cases are merely political commodities ahead of the runoff presidential election.

Legal expert Luhut M. Pangaribuan said that, as in the past, the high-profile corruption cases would simply help incumbent president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, to create an impression of her administration's commitment to the eradication of corruption.

"We shall see whether the cases go to court quickly. I doubt law enforcers can do that because nothing has changed with law enforcement in the country. It will be mere rhetoric to win public sympathy," Luhut told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Megawati is almost certain to challenge front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the second round of the presidential election on Sept. 20.

Luhut predicted the cases of Nurdin and Puteh would circulate around the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the police and the prosecutor's office, before finally disappearing from public view.

The KPK has declared Puteh a suspect over a scandal concerning the purchase of a helicopter.

The Supreme Court is selecting ad hoc judges to sit in the special court to hear cases handled by the KPK.

Puteh is also being questioned as a witness by the police in connection with the purchase of a power generator, which has resulted in losses to the state of Rp 30 billion.

Chairman of the Association of Civil Society Professionals Ismed Hasan Putro agreed with Luhut, saying the investigations into the graft cases had political motives.

"There is rivalry between elite political groups," Ismed told the Post.

He said the investigation into the cases would be dropped as soon as political ends had been achieved.

Both Luhut and Ismed reminded that law enforcers had been incapable of resolving any high-profile corruption cases they were handling.

During the last year, no such cases, including the phenomenal Rp 1.7 trillion BNI scandal, the Rp 20 trillion Account No. 502 case and the Rp 900 billion Bulog scandal, were resolved by the police.

Ismed also argued it would be difficult to take Nurdin to court because the charges against him remained unclear.

"The charges against Nurdin as chairman of Inkud remain weak as he can easily prove he is not responsible for his subordinates' unlawful action," said Ismed.

Police declared Nurdin, the chairman of the Confederation of Primary Cooperatives Association (Inkud), a suspect on Friday in the importation of 73,000 tons of illegal sugar, which, as Inkud chairman, he should have known about.

The police detained Nurdin immediately after the announcement. However, the police said on Saturday they could not put Nurdin in custody as he had become ill and had been rushed to the hospital.

Nurdin's lawyers maintained that their client's status remained that of a witness, saying they had not received a letter ordering Nurdin's detention.

They also claimed that Nurdin was unaware of the sugar smuggling or the document falsification to ship and distribute the commodities.

"He is still in hospital now. We believe Nurdin is innocent because there is no letter, verbal order, or other evidence showing that Nurdin knew about the document falsification. You cannot just declare him a suspect simply because he is the chairman," Farhad Abas, one of Nurdin's lawyers, said on Sunday.