Prosecutor's demand to free legislator Nurdin protested
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Hundreds of university students and lecturers on Tuesday protested the provincial prosecutor's office over its demand for the acquittal of legislator Nurdin Halid on charges of embezzling funds from a cooperative.
In another unexpected twist in the case, Nurdin blasted the government for negligence toward the country's cooperatives, including its failure to root out corrupt managers.
Prosecutor Mustafa Chani fainted last week after demanding the Ujungpandang District Court release Nurdin. He contended there was insufficient evidence in the case.
"Did the prosecutors prioritize the interests of the attorney general or the public?" said Achmad Ali, one of the protest leaders.
Nurdin is accused of embezzling Rp 115.77 billion (about US$12 million) from farmers' compulsory accounts at a local cooperative center which acted as the sole buyer from village cooperatives in the province. Nurdin was once known as a close associate of former president Soeharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.
Nurdin is a member of the ruling Golkar faction in the House of Representatives. Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib acknowledged he knew Nurdin when he served as the province's deputy governor in the early 1990s, but indicated he would not interfere in the trial.
Trial sessions attracted considerable attention and provoked clashes between his supporters and opponents.
"The attorney general regretted the prosecutor's demand," chief prosecutor Fachri Nasution said on Monday. Nasution said he did not instruct Mustafa to demand Nurdin's release.
On Tuesday students from state Hasanuddin University and several private universities demanded Nasution form an independent team to probe the scandal. Nurdin's supporters jeered marching students although there were no clashes.
Antara quoted Nurdin as saying on Tuesday the country's cooperatives could not develop optimally due to rampant corruption by their managers.
"Such practices must be stopped," he said. (27/prb)