Yogyakarta councillors turn suspects in graft case
Yogyakarta councillors turn suspects in graft case
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Prosecutors in Yogyakarta named on Friday six provincial
councillors as suspects in a graft case, only days after
suspicion over a misuse of funds prompted the Yogyakarta governor
to cut 55 councillor's salaries by about two-thirds.
"We're waiting for permission from the Minister of Home
Affairs to investigate the six councillors, and to question
others in the provincial legislature," said Yogyakarta
Prosecutor's Office spokesman Ranu Mihardja. He declined to
identify the suspects.
He said a report by the Yogyakarta Corruption Watch (YCW),
which was received in September last year, prompted the
investigation.
The YCW, he said, alleged that the suspects misused about Rp
120 million in state funds earmarked for paying their health
insurance.
Each of the six councillors was to pay Rp 20 million a year
for the insurance, but it turned out that they paid only Rp 3
million and kept the rest for themselves, Ranu said.
YCW also questioned the legitimacy of the health insurance,
saying that councillors were entitled to receive only allowances.
Investigators also discovered that the insurance money had
come from the budget of the provincial administration when it
should have been paid by the provincial legislature's own budget.
"We found out that the insurance fund was not the only
irregularity," Ranu added.
He said that a total of Rp 1 billion in state funds had been
abused by the councillors. Ranu did not say whether prosecutors
only suspected the six councillors in the case.
The announcement of the suspects came just days after
Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X decided to stop
paying councillors any allowances starting this month.
This has reduced the councillors' total monthly salary of Rp
6.2 million by almost two-thirds.
The decision came following questions raised by the inspector
general's office at the Ministry of Home Affairs on the use of
state funds by the Yogyakarta Council.
A meeting to address this problem is slated for next week
between the provincial administration, the council's budget
committee and officials from the inspector general's office.
The prosecutor's announcement of the six suspects was
criticized by several councillors.
"It amazes me. Why should there be only six suspects?" said
the council's deputy chairman, Nur Achmad Affandi.
He said that if the abuses had occurred because the entire
council had made a mistake than this should be the responsibility
of the council leaders.
"If it's considered a mistake of each councillor then all 55
councillors should be named suspects without any exception," he
said.