Police to summon governor by force

BANDAR LAMPUNG, Lampung: The National Police are intending to use force to bring Lampung governor-elect Alzier Dianis Thabranie to Jakarta for questioning in connection with his alleged involvement in eight criminal cases.

"The police are resorting to tough action, including the use of force on the suspect, as he has rejected our summonses several times," National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told reporters here on Saturday.

Alzier is charged with committing eight crimes, including corruption. He was put on the police wanted criminal list after failing to fulfill police summonses three times.

He was the unlikely winner of the Lampung gubernatorial election on Dec. 10, 2002, beating Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri's handpicked candidate and incumbent Oemarsono.

In her capacity as president, Megawati has so far refused to approve Alzier's election due to his alleged criminal involvement. -- JP