Rahardi dismisses lawyers

Rahardi dismisses lawyers

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The
Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Prime defendant in the Rp 62.9 billion State Logistics Agency
(Bulog) scandal Rahardi Ramelan has dismissed his defense team
following the court's decision to extend his detention.

Rahardi, who was the Bulog chief when the alleged crime took
place in 1999, has also withdrawn his libel lawsuit against a
weekly magazine.

One of the lawyers, Yan Djuanda Saputra, told reporters on
Thursday that Rahardi had sent a letter dated April 9 to the
nine-member team, informing them of his decision to withdraw the
letters of appointment from his attorneys.

"We respect his decision. We have done our best ... but the
reason he has not yet got his freedom back is because we cannot
interfere with the authority of the court," Yan Djuanda told
reporters.

The lawyers and family of Rahardi have five times requested
that his detention be lifted but to no avail.

Instead, the court extended Rahardi's detention by another 60
days on April 5. Rahardi has been Cipinang prison, East Jakarta,
since Feb. 28.

Unlike Rahardi, his alleged accomplice in the Bulog scandal,
House of Representatives speaker and Golkar Party chairman Akbar
Tandjung, was relieved when the court released him after only 30
days in custody in a comfortable Attorney General's Office cell.

Meanwhile, South Jakarta District Court spokesman Ida Bagus
Putu Madeg said that Rahardi had withdrawn his libel lawsuit
against Forum Keadilan magazine.

"We accepted the withdrawal of the suit as we have yet to
summon the accused," Madeg told reporters.

Rahardi's lawsuit against the weekly was registered by Andar
Situmorang on March 28.

The lawyer is currently serving an eight-month jail term in
Cipinang Penitentiary for forging his bachelor's degree.

The lawsuit related to an article in the March 24 edition
about Rahardi's role in the scandal. He demanded that the court
revoke the magazine's publishing license and order the weekly to
pay him Rp 1 billion in damages.

Also on Thursday, Attorney General's Office spokesman Barman
Zahir said investigators needed more time to complete their
investigations into another suspect in the scandal, Bulog's
former deputy finance chief Ahmad Ruskandar.

"He is now suspected not only of swindling Rp 4.6 billion in
taxpayers' money, but also of illegally disbursing Rp 62.9
billion. The investigators are now questioning more witnesses,"
Barman said.