State prosecutors question Habibie in Hamburg
State prosecutors question Habibie in Hamburg
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State prosecutors have started questioning former president B.J.
Habibie as a witness in the corruption case allegedly involving
Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, but doubt remains whether his
deposition would drag Akbar into criminal proceedings.
Prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office Manap Djubaedi
and Santoso questioned Habibie on Monday at the Indonesian
Consulate General in Hamburg, Germany starting at 10 a.m. local
time (3 p.m. Jakarta time) and ending at 3 p.m. The questioning
was scheduled to resume on Tuesday morning local time.
Speaking to the press after the first day of questioning,
Habibie's lawyers Yan Djuanda Saputra and O.C. Kaligis said in
Hamburg that their client admitted issuing a disposition
recommending that former minister/state secretary Akbar Tandjung
use State Logistics Agency (Bulog) non-budgetary funds for a food
aid program.
"Minister/state secretary (Akbar) was asked -- and not then
coordinating minister for public welfare and poverty eradication
Haryono Suyono, to use Bulog funds, merely for reasons of
efficiency so that the program could be implemented on time," Yan
quoted Habibie as telling state prosecutors, Antara reported on
Tuesday.
Yan said up until the time Habibie stepped down in August
1999, he (Habibie) had not received a report on the Rp 50 billion
then Bulog chairman Rahardi Ramelan disbursed to Akbar and then
armed forces chief General Wiranto.
"Since there were no reports from Akbar and Wiranto, and
economic indicators had improved, he (Habibie) presumed that the
funds were properly spent," Yan said.
Rahardi, who has been declared a suspect for the
misappropriation of Rp 54.5 billion in Bulog funds, claimed that
he gave Rp 40 billion to Akbar and another Rp 10 billion to
Wiranto in 1999, and the remaining Rp 4.5 billion for the
cancellation of a land-swapping deal between Hutomo "Tommy"
Mandala Putra's PT Goro Batara Sakti and Bulog.
Akbar denied receiving the funds directly, but admitted
channeling the Rp 40 billion to little known Roudlatul Jannah
Foundation. Wiranto admitted receiving the money, but denied that
the money was for used his personal needs.
In Jakarta, Akbar told the press on Tuesday that he already
gave a verbal report to Habibie in 1999 and that he was ready to
confront the former president face to face.
"When I left my post as state secretary in May 1999, I gave a
verbal report to him on the Bulog money," Akbar said.
He said he also mentioned to Habibie about the Roudlatul
Jannah Foundation that received the money to buy food packages to
be distributed to the poor who were most affected by the economic
crisis.