Passports of crime suspects withdrawn
Passports of crime suspects withdrawn
JAKARTA (JP): The directorate general of immigration has
withdrawn the passports of two prominent businessmen who have
been declared suspects in a graft case and banned from overseas
travel.
Head of the sub-directorate of immigration control of the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, M. Zaelani, said on Tuesday
that Robby Tjahjadi and Johannes Kotjo were both suspects in a
graft case.
"They surrendered their passports voluntarily last Friday and
Monday following our summonses. We have also summoned several
others to surrender their passports," he said in his office.
The passports would only be valid after the travel ban had
been lifted, he said, and that if they refused to hand them over
the office would declare them invalid and they would not be
allowed to be issued with new passports.
Zaelani said his office had received a list of 201 suspects
who had been banned from leaving the country by the Attorney
General's Office and another list of 29 suspects from the
Ministry of Finance.
The passports' withdrawal was a follow up of a ministerial
decree issued in July by former minister of justice and human
rights Marsillam Simandjuntak to facilitate investigation into
the suspects.
Unlike Robby and Johannes who are in Jakarta, many other
suspects are staying abroad for various reasons, including health
checkups, business, or for academic studies.
At least three graft suspects of the Attorney General's Office
are staying overseas and their investigation has been delayed.
They include businessmen Sjamsul Nursalim and Prayogo Pangestu,
and former minister of trade and industry and former chairman of
the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Rahardi Ramelan.
Rahardi, who is a suspect in a 1998 corruption case involving
Bulog for misappropriating Rp 54 billion (US$6 million) in non-
budgetary funds, is reported to have been staying in the United
States and is expected to arrive in Jakarta next week.
Director of Immigration Supervision and Control Muhammad Indra
said he had given instructions to the immigration office at the
airport to withdraw Rahardi's passport as soon as the latter
landed in the country.(bby)