Police cross-check Puteh's testimony

P.C. Naommy, Jakarta

Police began questioning two more top officials from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province on Friday as witnesses in a Rp 30 billion (US$3.52 million) corruption case.

The secretary of the provincial administration, Thantawi Ishak, and the head of the provincial treasury, T. Lizam, appeared at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Friday for questioning.

According to the director of the police's White-Collar Crime Division, Brig. Gen. Sugiri, the questioning revolved around the procedures used in the purchase of a power generator.

"We want to know who authorized the purchase of the generator," said Sugiri.

He said police had also arranged to question Aceh Deputy Governor Azwar Abu Bakar over the same matter.

The questioning of Lizam and Thantawi over the purchase of the generator is part of the investigation into corruption allegations that have implicated a number of top officials in Aceh, including Governor Abdullah Puteh.

Police questioned Puteh at the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Wednesday last week. Puteh denied any involvement in corruption, saying he had obtained approval from Aceh councillors for the purchase of the generator.

During more than eight hours of questioning, Puteh was required to provide detailed answers to 21 questions concerning the purchase of the generator and who was involved in the transaction.

Sugiri said whether or not the governor would be resummoned depended on the answers given by other officials scheduled for questioning in the case.

"We have already questioned Puteh and managed to get a lot of information from him, which will need to be cross-checked," said National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar on Friday.

Asked if the police would name Puteh a suspect in the corruption case, Da'i said it was too early to answer that and the investigation first needed to be completed.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) also questioned Puteh on Thursday over his alleged role in a markup in the purchase of a Russian-made helicopter in 2002.

According to the commission, the questioning revealed that the governor bypassed the bidding process in the purchase of the helicopter for Rp 12.5 billion.

However, the KPK refused to say whether Puteh had violated Government Regulation No. 29/1999, which requires a transparent bid for any government projects or the procurement of goods valued at more than Rp 5 billion.

The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said on Friday the KPK already had sufficient evidence to file a complaint against Puteh for a $725,000 markup in the price of the helicopter.

The PBHI urged the KPK not to use Puteh's position as the governor of Aceh as an excuse for delaying the investigation, or to try and shift the blame to lower level officials.

Puteh took over as the civil emergency administrator in Aceh on May 19, after the government revoked martial law in the province.