Yusril ready to be summoned

JAKARTA: Challenging the thirty-four political parties that are alleging bribery during the recent screening of political parties, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said Thursday that he was ready to be questioned.

He warned, however, that he would "strike back" through legal action should the allegation be found to be baseless.

The Minister said Thursday that he was ready to respond to the accusation to police investigators even without the prior consent of President Megawati Soekarnoputri for the police to question him. He also said that he was ready to be jailed should the allegation be found to be correct.

"Everybody has the right to file a complaint against another. So go ahead, we will face it.

"If the accusation is right, I will be imprisoned, but if they fail to prove it, I, of course, have the right to sue them for falsifying reports," Yusril told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on human rights held by the ministry.

Thirty-four political parties filed a complaint with the Jakarta Police on Wednesday against members of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights' verification team, alleging that they accepted bribes during the screening process.

Representatives of the 34 parties accused two ministry officials, Cahyo and Wicipto, of accepting money from political parties during the screening process, but they also named Yusril and the head of the party verification team, Ramli Hutabarat, in their complaint to the police. --JP