Officials censured over smuggling
Officials censured over smuggling
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon
Prosecutors, police, and customs and excise officials in the West
Java city of Cirebon are under fire for what is seen as their lax
investigation into a smuggling case involving 14 containers
filled with at least four luxury cars and hundreds of electronic
goods.
Political parties reiterated their threat on Friday to
mobilize thousands of party members to occupy the Cirebon customs
and excise office if the case was not immediately resolved.
The warning was issued by local leaders of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National
Awakening Party (PKB), the Justice and Unity Party (PKP), the
Star and Crescent Party (PBB), the National Mandate Party (PAN)
and the Golkar Party.
They issued a similar threat two weeks ago but eventually
backed down in order to give local authorities time to
investigate the case.
"Unfortunately, the customs and excise office and other
authorities in charge of the investigation have not used this
time to investigate the case seriously," said Dedi Subardi, a
local PDI Perjuangan official.
"They (the authorities) are half-hearted in resolving the
problem. So we and other members of the community are not to
blame if we take action to solve this problem.
"We will no longer hesitate to occupy the customs and excise
building," said Dedi, who is in charge of coordinating the
mobilization of PDI Perjuangan supporters. He did not say when.
The speaker of the Cirebon legislative council, Suryana, said
the threatened occupation of the customs and excise office was
"understandable".
"Do not underestimate the pressure (political parties and the
people) can exercise. The strong reaction shows that the people
are serious about upholding the supremacy of the law," he said.
Suryana said the sluggish investigation had led many people to
suspect that the authorities were involved in the smuggling case.
"Do not blame members of the community if they accuse the
authorities of playing games with this case," Suryana, who also
chairs the Cirebon branch of PDI Perjuangan, said.
The Cirebon Prosecutor's Office has named Soenarko Kasidin,
the director of private company PT Tiang Grage, a suspect in the
case of the 14 containers that were smuggled through the local
seaport in January.
However, Suryana said declaring the businessman a suspect was
an attempt to cover up the matter, which allegedly involves high-
ranking local officials.
Soenarko, who is the owner of the containers, is not a key
player in the case and will only be victimized by the conspiracy,
Suryana added.
"How is it possible that in such a major case there is only
one suspect? I believe that there must be other suspects who are
much more important than him (Soenarko)," he said. "I ask the
authorities to be really serious (about investigating this
case)."
Prosecutors said it was likely more suspects would be named as
they widened their investigation to include local customs
officials and other officials.
Suryana said the failure of the customs and excise office to
open the 14 containers was proof that the authorities were
reluctant to look too deeply into the case.
The containers were to have been opened last Monday by customs
officials, along with police officers, an investigative team from
the Cirebon legislative council and prosecutors.
But because the head of the West Java provincial customs and
excise office, Heru Santoso, failed to show up, the containers
were left sealed.
There are some suspicions that the containers have been
emptied, or that the contents have been switched with other good.
The 14 containers disappeared from the warehouse of the local
customs office and were later discovered by the legislative
council's investigative team at a warehouse owned by PT Yogadani
Gemilang, a company run by a local businessman identified only as
Jhony.
Known to have connections with senior military and police
officers in Cirebon, Jhony's legal status remains unclear.
The 14 containers are now sitting at the Cirebon seaport after
having been moved from Jhony's warehouse on Feb. 21.