Police ask House to send letter about Suwondo case
Police ask House to send letter about Suwondo case
JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro said
the House of Representative's special committee for the Bulog
scandal could send an official letter to police requesting that
Suwondo, a main suspect in the multibillion rupiah scam, be
brought for questioning.
Speaking to reporters after installing Brig. Gen. Mulyono
Sulaiman as the new Jakarta Police chief on Saturday, Bimantoro
said that the letter would not be an automatic guarantee that
police would allow Suwondo, who is currently under police
detention, to go to the House for questioning over the case.
According to the police boss, he was not sure whether the
existing laws allowed police to bring crime suspects to the House
for questioning.
"Please send a request letter to us and then we will look into
the regulation. Let's see... if the law allows it, then he
(Suwondo) can give his explanation to the special committee,"
Bimantoro said.
"But if there are some differences of opinion, then we may
have to wait for the decision from the Supreme Court. If the law
gives us authorization, we do not mind," he added.
Alip Agung Suwondo, alias An Peng Sui, also known as President
Abdurrahman Wahid's former masseur, has been named as a main
suspect in the Rp 35 billion (US$3.9 million) scam allegedly
disbursed from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) employee
foundation, Yanatera.
He was arrested by the police last week, but due to his ill
mental and physical condition the police have yet to question him
thoroughly.
Another suspect in the scandal, former Bulog deputy chief
Sapuan, has already been tried at the South Jakarta District
Court for his suspected role in disbursing the money to Suwondo,
who he claims acted on behalf of the President.
Bimantoro said five members of the House's special committee,
including legislators Didiek Suprianto of the PDI Perjuangan
faction and Alvin Lie of the Reform Party faction, had appealed
to him requesting that Suwondo be grilled by the committee.
He further emphasized that the police will not hamper the
investigation by the House as long as the regulations allow them
to submit Suwondo for questioning by the special
committee.(dja/jaw)