Sutiyoso amazed at arrest of senior official
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said Friday's arrest of the head of the city inspectorate office, Sutardjianto, for his alleged role in a Rp 2.6 billion (US$317,000) corruption scam had caught him by surprise.
According to the governor, he was unaware of an ongoing investigation and was only informed of Sutardjianto's arrest on Saturday afternoon.
"The arrest was so sudden," Sutiyoso said on Saturday.
He said he would seek the immediate release of Sutardjianto from Salemba penitentiary and, instead, order the former West Jakarta mayor be put under house arrest.
Sutiyoso refused to elaborate further on his decision to request house arrest for the suspect.
He only said he would continue his fight against all forms of collusion, corruption and nepotism (KKN) in the city administration.
Reports said Sutardjianto was arrested after undergoing intensive questioning over his alleged involvement in a land scam. It is said he profited from the illegal Rp 2.6 billion sale of two 1.9 hectare land plots belonging to the administration, located separately at Meruya Selatan and Meruya Utara in West Jakarta.
Head of West Jakarta prosecutor office Rusdy Thahir told Kompas on Saturday Sutardjianto had failed to deliver money resulting from the sales to the administration.
"The defendant even put Rp 250 million of the money in the account of one his children, who is living overseas," he said.
Rusdy said Sutardjianto collected Rp 1.1 billion from selling the city's 7,080 square meter plot to a man called Yanto Lukman, and another Rp 600 million from the sale of 9,300 square meters to a man identified as Wen Tjie Sing.
The suspect received another Rp 900 million after selling 3,500 square meters of administration property to scores of people, Rusdy said.
Early judgement
Earlier, the city's reform team -- set up by Sutiyoso last June to rid the administration of KKN practices -- cleared Sutardjianto of involvement in the cases.
The reform team, led by Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi, was established to meet the public's demand for a purge of the bureaucracy, greater transparency and improved public services.
On Sunday, journalists were disappointed when Sutardjianto declined to clarify his side of the story.
"He just said he was sorry, but he could not meet you," Paino, an official of the penitentiary, quoted the detainee as saying.
A source at the jail said Sutardjianto arrived there at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and was occupying a room with dimensions of six square meters.
"He doesn't get special treatment, but his family provided him with a mattress," the source said, adding that his family had visited him on Saturday morning.
Separately, Sutardjianto's lawyer Amir Nasution said on Sunday that he would submit a request on Monday to Rusdy Thahir for his client to be moved from the penitentiary and put under house arrest.
The lawyer said Rusdy could request police watch over the movements of his client, to avoid the possibility of the suspect leaving the city. (ind/ylt)