President issues permit to detain Setya Novanto
President issues permit to detain Setya Novanto
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a permit on
Tuesday for the detention of House of Representatives legislator
and businessman Setya Novanto in connection with the Bank Bali
scandal, the National Police chief of detectives said.
Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Tuesday the Jakarta
Prosecutor's Office indicated the dossier on Novanto was
complete.
"Novanto and (businessman) Djoko S. Chandra will be handed
over to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office this afternoon
(Tuesday)," Da'i said during a break in a ceremony at National
Police Headquarters in South Jakarta.
National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi confirmed the National
Police received both the President's permission to detain Novanto
as well as the suspect's dossier on Tuesday.
"We will surrender the suspect to the Jakarta Prosecutor's
Office immediately," Roesmanhadi said.
He also said the prosecutor's office was examining the
dossiers of former Bank Bali directors Rudy Ramli, Rusli Surjadi,
Henri Kurniawan and Firman Soetjahja. "They will soon be tried in
court."
Da'i said National Police detectives planned to summon several
high-level government officials allegedly connected to the
scandal.
"The names of the officials we plan to call in for questioning
as witnesses are clearly stated in the PricewaterhouseCoopers
audit report.
"They include Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin, Tanri
Abeng, A.A. Baramuli, Bambang Subianto and Golkar Party treasurer
and businessman Marimutu Manimaren," Da'i said.
Demand continues to escalate for the disclosure of the
complete PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report, which reportedly
implicates at least one former minister and one political party
in the scandal.
The scandal centers on the transfer of Rp 546 billion from
Bank Bali to PT Era Giat Prima (EGP), a company controlled by
Setya Novanto, who is also Golkar's deputy treasurer.
The payment was described as a "commission" for EGP's
assistance in helping the bank recoup Rp 946 billion in interbank
claims from closed banks currently under the supervision of the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency. (ylt)