Rahardi, Akbar have different version of Bulog scandal
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two suspects in corruption cases involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) faced off in the courtroom on Monday, with each trying to outwit the other.
Former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan, testifying against House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, told the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday his office disbursed Rp 40 billion to then minister/state secretary Akbar in 1999 at the instruction of then president B.J. Habibie.
The funds, he said, were considered a loan that the government was required to repay in the next fiscal year.
"The money was not doled out to the government to finance food distribution... then president B.J. Habibie said the money would be repaid to Bulog from the state budget for the following year," Rahardi said.
Akbar, who has admitted to having had received the funds, said he never heard Habibie refer to the Rp 40 billion as a loan.
"I also never gave a receipt for the checks to Ruskandar and never asked for the receipt back so I could replace it with a new one that combined the first delivery (of the funds) with the rest of the money," Akbar stressed.
Akbar, who is also the chairman of Golkar, the second largest political party in President Megawati Soekarnoputri's coalition government, is the highest official to be brought to trial for corruption.
Monday's hearing featured testimonies from Rahardi, former Bulog deputy finance manager Achmad Ruskandar and former coordinating minister for social welfare and poverty eradication Haryono Suyono.
Habibie failed to appear at the hearing because he is in Germany with his wife Hasri Ainun Habibie, who is being treated for lung problems.
Presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria adjourned the trial for one week and ordered the prosecutors to produce Habibie in court, along with the head of Bulog's financing bureau, Jusnadi Suwarta, a staff member in the office of the Cabinet secretary, Mahdar, and Raudlatul Jannah Foundation members Tubagus Yasin, Sulistyo Hadi, Kusnan Supriyadi and Mardiono.
Akbar also rejected Rahardi's testimony that he ordered Bulog to deliver the remaining Rp 20 billion on April 20, 1999, in eight checks -- four for Rp 3 billion each, and four for Rp 2 billion each.
Akbar, along with codefendants Raudlatul Jannah Foundation chairman Dadang Sukandar and contractor Winfried Simatupang, is charged with violating the anti-corruption law, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in jail.
The Bulog funds were intended to finance the purchase of food aid, ant the Raudlatul Jannah Foundation was tasked with distributing the aid. However, prosecutors charged that the money was never used to purchase the food aid.
Many people believe the funds went to bankroll the election campaign of Golkar, which named Habibie as its presidential candidate.
Haryono, meanwhile, said that then president Habibie entrusted Akbar with overseeing the food aid project and Rahardi with raising the funds.
"I didn't have any authority concerning the project... the president said its implementation should be in compliance with the existing regulations... The minister/cabinet secretary should have known what those regulations were," he told the courtroom, which was packed with Golkar supporters.