Rahardi expected help from Akbar: Lawyer

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.