Police to question Gus Dur on Monday
Police to question Gus Dur on Monday
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to be
questioned as a witness by Jakarta Police detectives on Monday
over the Rp 35 billion State Logistics Agency scandal, an officer
said on Friday.
The head of the general information unit at National Police
Headquarters, Col. Saleh Saaf, said city police detectives sent a
letter on Thursday informing the President of Monday's
questioning.
However, Saleh did not say where the questioning would take
place.
"It's only a technical matter," Saleh said, adding that the
police had not yet received a reply from the President or the
Presidential Office to the letter.
The scandal revolves around the disbursement of Rp 35 billion
from the agency's employee foundation, Yanatera, to the
President's masseur, Suwondo, by agency deputy chairman Sapuan.
Sapuan said he transferred the money to Suwondo, who claimed
to be acting on the President's behalf, after a meeting in which
the President requested the agency's participation in a
humanitarian program in Aceh.
Former Jakarta Police chief of detectives Col. Alex Bambang
Riatmodjo announced on Wednesday last week the President had been
cleared of any involvement in the scandal.
Alex, who was recently promoted to chief of the Bandung
Police, said he believed Sapuan, who is in police custody, was
the main suspect in the case.
He said Sapuan may have been attempting to win the President's
favor by transferring the money to Suwondo, in the hope of one
day being appointed to head the State Logistics Agency.
Saleh insisted on Monday that although Alex said the President
was free of suspicion in the case, Abdurrahman still needed to be
questioned to help the police in their investigation.
"The police are just trying to be professional," Saleh said.
The President arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday from a two-week
official overseas trip.
During the trip, Abdurrahman told Indonesian journalists of
his readiness to be questioned by the Jakarta Police over the
scandal.
According to Saleh, the police -- in the process of
investigating criminal cases -- have the prerogative to question
anyone, including the President.
"KUHAP (the Criminal Code Procedures) states that the police
are authorized to summon anyone (for questioning)," Saleh told
journalist after meeting with the media as part of the so-called
"morning coffee program". (08)