Rahardi expected help from Akbar: Lawyer
Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Defendant Rahardi Ramelan had expected to receive some help from House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung when the former chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) agreed to meet the Golkar chairman last October, Rahardi's lawyer said.
Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, the lawyer who spilled the beans in a court hearing on Tuesday, claimed on Wednesday that this was one key reason why Rahardi had agreed to accept an invitation by Akbar, Golkar members and lawyer Hotma Sitompoel to discuss the matter at a meeting at Grand Mahakam hotel, South Jakarta, at about 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 10 last year.
Rahardi, on trial for his alleged role in the misuse of Rp 62.9 billion of Bulog funds in 1999, arrived at the hotel with his then lawyers Otto Cornelius Kaligis and Yan Djuanda Saputra.
Rahardi could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
"What Rahardi did not expect was that Akbar's camp would instead demand something from Rahardi and offer nothing in return ... that angered Rahardi. He got up and walked out of the meeting," Trimoelja told The Jakarta Post.
He refused to reveal the identity of the Golkar camp members.
Trimoelja claimed that the meeting was organized by Akbar's camp to ask Rahardi to commit perjury in court by stating that the Rp 40 billion of the total Rp 62.9 billion had not been received by Akbar, but had been channeled directly to the Raudlatul Jannah Foundation.
"Akbar's men demanded at the October meeting last year that Rahardi should say in court that the cheques had not been handed to Akbar, but straight to the foundation. Rahardi knew that if he did this, he would be in violation of (Habibie's) presidential instruction, which had required the Bulog chief to hand over the money to then state secretary Akbar," Trimoelja said.
He added that Rahardi was also asked to "act" as if Bulog had actually conducted a field survey that concluded that the Rp 40 billion had already been distributed to the poor.
"After Rahardi heard the demands, he asked, what about himself ... what would happen to him. Hotma said that it was his (Rahardi's) bad luck that he was a suspect," Trimoelja said.
Hotma denied on Wednesday ever making these demands at the October meeting last year to Rahardi, stating that it was Trimoelja's ploy to divert the attention of the South Jakarta District Court to concentrate instead on Akbar's role rather than Rahardi's.
"Akbar admitted that he received Rp 40 billion. Former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen (ret.) Wiranto took Rp 10 billion. What did Rahardi do with the remaining Rp 12.9 billion? ... that's the question. Trimoelja is just trying to divert the court's attention from that issue," Hotma said.
"Trimoelja was not even at that meeting. He was not Rahardi's lawyer then. How does he know what I did or did not say at that meeting?"
Akbar admitted at Rahardi's trial hearing in the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday that the meeting did occur, but claimed that he did not remember what was discussed at it.
Akbar is being tried separately in the same case at the Central Jakarta District Court over the misuse of Rp 40 billion of Bulog funds.
According to the state prosecutors' indictment, Rahardi gave Rp 40 billion of Bulog's nonbudgetary funds to Akbar, who was then state secretary. Akbar was assigned by former president B.J. Habibie to manage the project. Akbar then appointed the Raudlatul Jannah Foundation to handle the project.
Trimoelja said that the first cheque for Rp 20 billion had been handed to Akbar by the deputy treasurer of Bulog, Achmad Ruskandar, and businessman Ishadi on March 2, 1999.
The second cheque for Rp 20 billion, he said, was handed over to Akbar by Achmad and Yusnadi Suwarta on April 20, 1999.
It is believed that the funds were instead used to finance Golkar's 1999 general election expenses. Akbar denied this under questioning on Tuesday's hearing.