Regent quizzed for 10 hours over graft
The Jakarta Post, Kendari, Cirebon/Pekanbaru
Corruption suspect Konawe Regent Lukman Abunawas was questioned for 10 hours on Tuesday by Southeast Sulawesi prosecutors over his connection with two cases of fraud worth Rp 2 billion (US$222,000).
Lukman arrived at the prosecutor's office at about 8:30 a.m. in his official car. The closed-door session ended at 6:30 p.m.
The regent was accompanied by lawyers Abu Hanifa Pahege and Abidin Ramli and at least 11 bodyguards.
As Lukman was taken into an interrogation room, several district chiefs and 150 village heads in Konawe arrived at the prosecutor's office to lend him "moral support".
"Whatever happens to Pak Lukman, he is my superior," Sampara district head Nurlan told The Jakarta Post.
The presence of the district and village chiefs followed rumors that the regent would be detained directly after Tuesday's questioning.
No move was made to detain him and Lukman remains free.
Dozens of police officers provided a guard inside the office to prevent a possible disturbance during the questioning.
Local chief prosecutor I Wayan Suarta declined to comment on the probe. "Give us time to question him (Lukman). We cannot give you any statement," he said.
The prosecutors summoned the regent after obtaining two permission letters from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in November and December respectively.
Lukman is accused of illegally approving the disbursement of Rp 2 billion in severance payouts to 25 members of the regional legislative council.
The former councillors allegedly received payments of at least Rp 50 million each, with senior officials pocketing much more. At least three of the councillors have returned the money.
Lukman also faces another corruption charge of misusing more than Rp 200 million from an education aid fund.
Separately, all 45 former members of West Java's Indramayu legislative council would soon be questioned about systematic stealing that had cost the local government Rp 5.3 billion, local prosecutors said.
Indramayu Prosecutor's Office head Pardan Rachim said he would soon summon all 45 former councillors in the regency and question them about money misappropriated from Indramayu's budgets from 2001 to 2003.
Prosecutors would continue to collect evidence from inside the local administration before questioning the councillors, Pardan said. He could not say when the questioning would start.
They had earlier spoken to regency finance head Sri Wulaningsih and council secretary Srie Indrawati as witnesses in the case.
The plan to summon the councillors followed recent demonstrations by students and activists who demanded a thorough investigation into corruption in the council.
In Pekanbaru on Tuesday, prosecutors spoke to nine farmers from Kampar as witnesses about the misuse of up to 70 percent of Rp 5.4 billion in funds allocated to an agribusiness project.
Earlier, the prosecutors officially named a project coordinator and another senior official of the Kampar forestry office as suspects in the case.
The questioning of the nine farmers was aimed at finding more evidence, prosecutors' spokesman Enita Menhar said.