Regent assaults activist for accusing him of graft

Regent assaults activist for accusing him of graft

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Enraged by corruption allegations against him, a regent in
Lampung province took the law into his own hands, reportedly
assaulting the chairman of an antigraft non-governmental
organization (NGO).

Hari Kohar, who chairs the Lampung Transparency People's Forum
(FMTL), is being treated for injuries at Bumi Waras General
Hospital in Bandarlampung.

Kohar said on Monday that Tulangbawang Regent Abdurrachman
Sarbini came to his office on Sunday to ask for clarification
over the activist's statement carried by local media, that the
regent was involved in an alleged markup in the procurement of a
passenger boat.

The FMTL director demanded that the Lampung Prosecutor's
Office seriously probe the purchase of the Tulangbawang Jaya
boat.

Kohar said the regent, escorted by his son and 10 other men,
verbally abused and threatened to kill him if he did not take
back his accusations.

Two of the regent's men became involved in a heated spat on
the second floor of the NGO's office. Sarbini punched Kohar in
the chest, while his son, Dodi, hit him with a plastic stool.

Kohar took his gun, which was loaded with blanks, and fired it
into the air causing the assailants to flee the scene in two
cars.

Several policemen from the Tanjungkarang station, which is
located next door, arrived and took Kohar to hospital.

But Sarbini denied he had attacked the NGO chairman, saying he
just went to the activist's office to demand an explanation for
the media reports, in which the FMTL implicated him in the graft
case.

"Kohar said in several media that I was involved in
corruption. I just wanted to know his reasons for making the
accusation public, without sufficient evidence. I can sue him or
prosecutors for accusing me without complete data," said the
regent.

He said that as the quarrel intensified, Kohar took his pistol
out of the drawer and fired two shots in the air while shouting,
"I'll shoot you".

The Menggala Prosecutor's Office is investigating the alleged
markup in the price of the passenger boat and seized it in
Bakauheni Port on Saturday.

Prosecutors said the boat would be used as evidence in the
probe and that it could not be used until the investigation was
completed.

The passenger boat was reportedly bought for Rp 4 billion
(US$444,500), or marked up by Rp 1.5 billion from the actual
price of Rp 2.5 billion.

Tulangbawang Development Planning Agency head Hotman Atiek
said the regental administration purchased the boat using funds
from the Sai Bumi Nenggah Nyappur cooperative managed by civil
servants.

The Lampung Prosecutor's Office has named a senior official in
Tulangbawang, identified only by his initials, TB, as a suspect
in the case and will summon Sarbini for questioning as a witness.

The procurement of the boat sparked controversy in the regency
as the funds used to buy it were not approved by the Tulangbawang
legislative council. Moreover, the purchase was not made through
a tender.

In a hearing a few months ago, Tulangbawang council deputy
speaker Chairul Yadi demanded that the administration postpone
the plan to purchase the boat until a feasibility study was done.

Chairul said that it was risky to open up a commercial route
between Menggala and Merak as the area was used by traditional
fishermen.

Besides which, he added, there were doubts about whether the
route would be profitable.

The express boat, which has been plying the Menggala
(Tulangbawang)-Merak route since July 2004, carried fewer than 60
passengers each trip, though it has the capacity to transport
180.