Puteh goes on trial as tsunami devastates Aceh

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

As thousands of Acehnese were killed in the most devastating natural disaster in the country's history, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh went on trial on Monday on corruption charges in Jakarta.

During his first hearing at the Anticorruption Court, a team of prosecutors charged the 56-year-old governor for his role in a scam involving the purchase of a Russian helicopter that cost the state at least Rp 10.8 billion (US$1.2 million) in 2001.

Chief prosecutor Khaidir Ramli told the court the defendant had ordered the purchase of an Mi-2 helicopter, which was not part of his administration's expenditure and without the consent of Aceh Provincial Legislative Council.

Puteh is also charged with illegally slashing Rp 700 million off the state budget allocated for each of 13 regental and municipal administrations in the province to pay for the helicopter.

According to the charges, Puteh deposited Rp 4 billion of the Aceh provincial budget in his personal bank account.

Puteh illegally diverted Rp 35 billion from routine spending and Rp 9.1 billion from the special funds allocated by the central government for the regional administrations in Aceh, the team of prosecutors said.

"The defendant is charged under Article 2 paragraph 1 of Law No 31/1999 on corruption eradication," Khaidir said. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Wearing a dark suit and kopiah (Muslim cap), Puteh read a prepared speech outlining his personal objection to the indictment.

During the hearing led by Judge Krishna Menon, dozens of spectators applauded when Puteh said the indictment was obscure.

Outside the courtroom in a hall on the ground floor of Upindo Building on Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, dozens of people demanded Puteh's release.

"It was my policy that Aceh remain a part of the Unitary State of Indonesia," Puteh said, insisting that no procedures were violated in the purchase of the helicopter.

Puteh also asked the panel of judges to postpone his trial, pending a verdict from the Constitutional Court for a judicial review request against the law on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) by businessman Bram HD Manoppo.

Bram, whose company brokered the helicopter deal, has also been named a suspect by the KPK in the case. He demanded the judicial review on the grounds that the KPK, which was set up in 2002, had no authority to investigate a case that took place in 2001.

Puteh claimed he did not cut the regental budget in Aceh, saying that the regents had voluntarily allocated Rp 700 million each for the purchase of the helicopter, which was needed to help Puteh move swiftly from one place to another to monitor developments in the restive province.

Puteh's wife Linda Poernomo and father-in-law Bambang Poernomo attended the hearing.

After the hearing Puteh prayed for an end to prolonged armed conflict in the province and his trial.

Linda, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso as the chair of the Association of Governors, and Puteh's lawyers have offered their personal guarantee that Puteh will not flee, in order that he be released from detention during the trial.