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.