Police reopen Pardede's case

MEDAN, North Sumatra: After two years, North Sumatra Police decided on Friday to reopen an alleged fake diploma case involving Deputy Governor Rudolf Pardede.

Provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Iwan Pandjiwinata said the decision was a response to public demands.

"Police are now reinvestigating the case. We expect the public to wait for our probe with patience and refrain from any moves that could disturb order," Iwan said.

The police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Bambang Prihady said a team of four officers had been sent to Sukabumi, West Java to gather facts from BPK Penabur high school that Pardede claimed had issued his diploma in early 1960s. The school has denied having Pardede as a student.

The case resurfaced after a group of councillors rejected any possible appointment of Pardede as the governor replacing Rizal Nurdin who died in a plane crash on Sept. 5. The councillors demanded that the police reopen Pardede's old case.

Pardede headed the province's office of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle when he ran as Rizal's running mate in the 2003 election, with approval from then president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is the party's national leader. -- JP