S. Sulawesi legislature to grill Sofjan over smuggled cars

Jupriadi and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Jakarta

The South Sulawesi Legislative Council (DPRD) decided on Thursday to summon Comr. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb, a former provincial police chief, for endorsing the irregular registration of 11 luxury cars allegedly smuggled in from Singapore.

"The DPRD will summon Pak Sofjan Jacoeb for clarification," Ichsan Yasin Limpo, who chairs the council's Commission C for taxation and budgetary affairs, told journalists in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.

He said he himself would convey the summons to Sofjan, but the date remain uncertain.

Ichsan said legislators expected the former South Sulawesi Police chief to show up next week.

Earlier on Wednesday, provincial traffic police chief Sr. Comr. Zairin Bustami told the legislators that Sofjan had abused his power by ordering the traffic police to issue temporary vehicle ownership papers for 11 Mercedes-Benz sedans without a prior compulsory physical check.

Sofjan served as the provincial police chief in South Sulawesi from June 2000 to May last year. He was later installed as the Jakarta Police chief for seven months until December before becoming the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) senior inspector.

Ichsan said on Thursday the council would quiz Sofjan over procedural irregularities in producing vehicle registration documents for the luxury cars made between 1993 and 1997.

Asked what would happen if Sofjan ignored the summons, the legislator said: "Let's wait. But as a good citizen, Pak Sofjan will certainly come."

The legislature will also summon top current police officers in South Sulawesi in connection with the case.

Sofjan also faces questioning by National Police investigators in Jakarta. Comr. Gen. Ahwil Luthan said the session was aimed at "seeking Sofjan's clarification" on the case.

Ahwil, who has been named the chief investigator of Sofjan's case, failed to set a definite date for the questioning.

He added that the National Police would first have to secure permission from Lemhannas Governor Ermaya Suradinata to quiz Sofjan.

Ahwil is due to retire and has been nominated for the ambassadorial post in Mexico. He said the police officer who takes over his job as chief of the investigative team looking into Sofjan's case would continue his work.

"It's not a case of me leaving and the case is closed. The case will be investigated by the person who replaces me," Ahwil said, without stating who would replace him.

He added that he had questioned South Sulawesi traffic police chief Sr. Comr. Zairin Bustami as a witness in the case, but he refused to reveal the results of the questioning. The police, he said, still needed more concrete evidence and witness testimony to build the case.