Yogyakarta legislators in hot seat over bribes

Yogyakarta legislators in hot seat over bribes

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Dozens of activists blocked the entrance gate of Yogyakarta's
provincial legislative council (DPRD) on Wednesday in a protest
against two corruption scandals that they believe directly
implicate local legislators.

The demonstration came as the provincial prosecutor's office
plans to summon all 52 legislators for questioning over the
scandals linked to a local vice-gubernatorial election/zoo
scandal and a construction project.

The protesters grouped in the Yogyakarta Communication Forum
for Mosque Youths (FSRMY) and the Corps of Indonesian Muslim
Students (Kammi) arrived at 9 a.m. at the council compound on Jl.
Malioboro.

They immediately formed a barricade at the entrance gate
there, forcing several legislators to park their cars on the
roads outside.

"Your salary has been raised, but that doesn't stop you from
stealing the people's money and even monkey food," a protester
shouted, in reference to the zoo scandal.

Some posters carried by the demonstrators read: "DPRD members
= munyuk (Javanese for monkey)" and "Free the DPRD building from
the rat epidemic".

None of the DPRD members engaged in dialog with the
protesters.

A similar protest was also staged on Wednesday by an
independent group of lawyers from various universities and non-
governmental organizations, who came to the legislature to demand
a thorough investigation of the cases.

Members of the legislature have been accused of taking Rp 1
billion (US$97,088) in bribes to ensure that Paku Alam IX be
elected as deputy Yogyakarta governor.

The money was reportedly paid by Yogyakarta's Zoo Director
Joko Tirtono, who admitted that he did so under pressure from
legislators. Paku Alam, who won the election, controls a majority
stake in the zoo.

The legislators are also facing accusations of involvement in
another bribe case worth Rp 125 million in connection with the
construction of the Yogya Expo Center (JEC) building.

The money was reportedly received from state-owned
construction company PT Adhi Karya while it was attempting to win
a bid for the Rp 42.5 billion project.

The Yogyakarta provincial administration contributed Rp 19
billion to the project. Several council members have admitted to
receiving money from PT Adhi Karya.

The project was supposed to be completed in time for the ASEAN
Tourism Conference which was held there late last month, but the
building is far from finished.

Head of the prosecutor's office Hantoro Sumaryo said on
Tuesday he would summon all of the members of the legislature
soon after he obtained an approval to do so from the Minister of
Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.

Under the law, the questioning of provincial legislators can
only be done with the approval of the home affairs minister.

Hantoro said prosecutors were gathering evidence to charge
suspects in the corruption scandals. Yogyakarta Governor Hamengku
Buwono X is reportedly in support of the investigation.

On Wednesday local senior prosecutor Hendar Sutarna, however,
said his office had obtained sufficient evidence to back up the
accusations. He refused to elaborate further, however.

Senior legislator Djuwarto, chairman of Yogyakarta's
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), said on
Wednesday he was ready to respond to a summons by the
prosecutor's office and that he supported the probe to rid the
council of corrupt people.

"I have instructed all PDI Perjuangan members to quickly form
a team to probe the cases, so the culprits can be dragged into
court, even if some of them come from our party," he said.

Djuwarto admitted he had received a Rp 5 million bribe, but
said he wanted to keep it as evidence until the investigators
asked him for it.

But Hendar urged Djuwarto to be "proactive" by voluntarily
surrendering the money to his office.