Police detains Bustanil Arifin

JAKARTA: The 73-year-old former head of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), Bustanil Arifin, was detained by police after completing a questioning session at the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.

City police detectives chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Hendarso Danuri confirmed the detention of one of former president Soeharto's confidants.

"Bustanil Arifin is suspected of being implicated in graft in Bulog when he assumed the agency's top post in 1990," Bambang said as quoted by Antara.

Bambang also said the ailing Bustanil could face up to 20- years in prison if found guilty later.

When contacted separately, Bustanil's lawyer Dewi Kania said her client was merely undergoing questioning and was not detained because it was obvious that Bustanil was too weak to run away.

"The questioning has not finished yet. But I don't know if police will detain him or not. Why should they detain him, he will not going anywhere with his current health condition," Dewi told The Jakarta Post. --JP