ID :
15276
Fri, 08/08/2008 - 10:40
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https://oananews.org//node/15276
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MORE DAMNING TESTIMONY STRENGTHENS PUBLIC SUSPICION ON SUZETTA IN BI FUNDS TRANSFER CASE By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, Aug 7 (ANTARA) - The testimony of former Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy director for money circulation Luki Fatul Aziz in a Corruption Court session on Wednesday is believed to have increased public suspicion about National Development Planning Minister Paskah Suzetta's involvement in the illegal Bank Indonesia (BI) funds transfer case.
Aziz had testified that Suzetta had held several meetings with BI officials to discuss ways to erase all traces of the illegal distribution of BI funds among House of Representatives (DPR) members , including himself, in 2003.
The former BI official was the second person to give damning testimony against Suzetta after legislator Hamka Yandhu who had taken the witness stand in a Corruption Court session a week earlier.
Yandhu who was a member of Commission IX of the House in the 1999-2004 period had stated he had personally handed Rp1 billion of the BI funds in four installments to Suzetta who was at the time chairman of the House's Commission IX.
With the testimonies of Aziz and Yandhu, it was only a matter of time for the law to consider Suzetta as another suspect in the illegal BI funds flow case, according to Said Nizar, a legal expert and a lecturer at Hassanuddin University in Makassar, on Thursday.
Nizar noted the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was currently trying to find or identify the "mastermind" of the illegal transfer of BI (Bank Indobesia) funds to legislators and other parties in 2003.
KPK Chairman Antasari Azhar after attending a public discussion on "Reaffirming the commitment to realize good governance and a corruption-free zone" on Monday, said his office would soon summon former House Commission IX members MS Kaban (currently Forestry Minister) and Paskah Suzetta again for questioning in the illegal BI funds transfer case.
However, either Paskah or Kaban was stumbled with a `heating' stone which would possibly force the head of state to suspend them temporarily from their post, Nizar said.
In a Corruption Criminal Court session, Luki told the court that Paskah in 2003 met with a number of BI executives in 2005 after an indication was learned that the State Audit Board (BPK) had found irregularities in the fund flow to the DPR.
"The meeting was held to find out a way how to solve the problem," Luki said.
In August 2005, Paskah together with Hamka Yandhu met with Rusli Simanjuntak who at the moment was BI Governor's Bureau chief. Luki and Lukman Bunyamin attended the meeting which was held in Le Meredien hotel.
Luki said that at the meeting Paskah proposed that Burhanuddin Abdullah, who was BI governor at that time, meet BPK Chairman Anwar Nasution so that the BI fund flow problem would not escalate.
A similar meeting was also held in December 2005.
Through Hamka Yandhu in a meeting in Dharmawangsa Hotel in 2006, Paskah proposed that BI should return the money to BI's Foundation for Indonesian Bank Development (YPPI) from where the funds were distributed to the DPR.
When questioned by the Corruption Eradition Commission (KPK)'s investigators, Luki said that Paskah had confirmed receiving the BI fund but not in the same amount as it was promised by BI.
In the minutes of investigation (BAP), Luki was quoted as saying that Paskah happened to complain in the 2005 meeting. According to Luki, Paskah doubted if the amount of money he received was the same as the amount that BI had distributed. It was said in the court that Paskah received Rp1 billion.
But Luki denied his testimony as written in the minutes (BAP). He told the judges that Paskah doubted if the amount the BI had distributed was the same as the amount the DPR had received, not the amount received by Paskah
In the meantime Paskah also stressed that the fund flow of BI to the DPR was fully the responsibility of BI because the funds were disbursed by the central bank.
He even also denied Luki's testimony on the illegal BI funds transfer case that he had several times met BI officials to discuss ways to cover up the distribution of Rp31.5 billion in BI money among legislators in 2003.
"Those allegations are totally untrue... I never had those meetings," said Suzetta said on Thursday.
However Nizar saw Paskah's strategy to cover up his innocence in the graft will be weak, as the confession of two suspects had actually opened the eyes of investigators to get more information.
In addition, certain elements also asked the head of state to suspend legal suit-related ministers.
Gayus Lumbun, a member of the House's Commission III of the Indonesian Democratic Party reaffirmed that it would be much better for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to suspend the two ministers prior to a court decision on their involvement in illegal BI (Bank Indonesia) fund transfer which was still in a legal process.
"It means that the president should not merely heed the normative legal aspect of the case, but his observation could also be based on descriptive propriety in taking a decision against his assistants in the cabinet," Gayus Lumbuun who is a member of the House's Commission III dealing with law enforcement and human rights, said here Monday.
If the president reflected the propriety of a minister allegedly involved in a bribery as conveyed by Hamka Yandu who spoke under oath with all kinds of risks in his testimony during a court session, it was not necessary for the president to wait for a court decision.
In response to a call for two ministers? resignation, the president, after summoning the two ministers at the state palace on Monday, said he would not yet suspend Forestry Minister MS Kaban and National Development Planning Minister/National Development Planning Board (Bapennas) Minister Paskah Suzetta pending the completion of the legal process on the allegations that they had received Bank Indonesia (BI) funds illegally distributed in 2003.
"So far, my action against a high-ranking government official who has become a defendant in a legal process has been relieve him his post temporarily," the president was quoted as saying.
The president said if the official in question was eventually found guilty by a court of law, he or she would be dismissed, otherwise he or she would be reinstated in his or her post.
Aziz had testified that Suzetta had held several meetings with BI officials to discuss ways to erase all traces of the illegal distribution of BI funds among House of Representatives (DPR) members , including himself, in 2003.
The former BI official was the second person to give damning testimony against Suzetta after legislator Hamka Yandhu who had taken the witness stand in a Corruption Court session a week earlier.
Yandhu who was a member of Commission IX of the House in the 1999-2004 period had stated he had personally handed Rp1 billion of the BI funds in four installments to Suzetta who was at the time chairman of the House's Commission IX.
With the testimonies of Aziz and Yandhu, it was only a matter of time for the law to consider Suzetta as another suspect in the illegal BI funds flow case, according to Said Nizar, a legal expert and a lecturer at Hassanuddin University in Makassar, on Thursday.
Nizar noted the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was currently trying to find or identify the "mastermind" of the illegal transfer of BI (Bank Indobesia) funds to legislators and other parties in 2003.
KPK Chairman Antasari Azhar after attending a public discussion on "Reaffirming the commitment to realize good governance and a corruption-free zone" on Monday, said his office would soon summon former House Commission IX members MS Kaban (currently Forestry Minister) and Paskah Suzetta again for questioning in the illegal BI funds transfer case.
However, either Paskah or Kaban was stumbled with a `heating' stone which would possibly force the head of state to suspend them temporarily from their post, Nizar said.
In a Corruption Criminal Court session, Luki told the court that Paskah in 2003 met with a number of BI executives in 2005 after an indication was learned that the State Audit Board (BPK) had found irregularities in the fund flow to the DPR.
"The meeting was held to find out a way how to solve the problem," Luki said.
In August 2005, Paskah together with Hamka Yandhu met with Rusli Simanjuntak who at the moment was BI Governor's Bureau chief. Luki and Lukman Bunyamin attended the meeting which was held in Le Meredien hotel.
Luki said that at the meeting Paskah proposed that Burhanuddin Abdullah, who was BI governor at that time, meet BPK Chairman Anwar Nasution so that the BI fund flow problem would not escalate.
A similar meeting was also held in December 2005.
Through Hamka Yandhu in a meeting in Dharmawangsa Hotel in 2006, Paskah proposed that BI should return the money to BI's Foundation for Indonesian Bank Development (YPPI) from where the funds were distributed to the DPR.
When questioned by the Corruption Eradition Commission (KPK)'s investigators, Luki said that Paskah had confirmed receiving the BI fund but not in the same amount as it was promised by BI.
In the minutes of investigation (BAP), Luki was quoted as saying that Paskah happened to complain in the 2005 meeting. According to Luki, Paskah doubted if the amount of money he received was the same as the amount that BI had distributed. It was said in the court that Paskah received Rp1 billion.
But Luki denied his testimony as written in the minutes (BAP). He told the judges that Paskah doubted if the amount the BI had distributed was the same as the amount the DPR had received, not the amount received by Paskah
In the meantime Paskah also stressed that the fund flow of BI to the DPR was fully the responsibility of BI because the funds were disbursed by the central bank.
He even also denied Luki's testimony on the illegal BI funds transfer case that he had several times met BI officials to discuss ways to cover up the distribution of Rp31.5 billion in BI money among legislators in 2003.
"Those allegations are totally untrue... I never had those meetings," said Suzetta said on Thursday.
However Nizar saw Paskah's strategy to cover up his innocence in the graft will be weak, as the confession of two suspects had actually opened the eyes of investigators to get more information.
In addition, certain elements also asked the head of state to suspend legal suit-related ministers.
Gayus Lumbun, a member of the House's Commission III of the Indonesian Democratic Party reaffirmed that it would be much better for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to suspend the two ministers prior to a court decision on their involvement in illegal BI (Bank Indonesia) fund transfer which was still in a legal process.
"It means that the president should not merely heed the normative legal aspect of the case, but his observation could also be based on descriptive propriety in taking a decision against his assistants in the cabinet," Gayus Lumbuun who is a member of the House's Commission III dealing with law enforcement and human rights, said here Monday.
If the president reflected the propriety of a minister allegedly involved in a bribery as conveyed by Hamka Yandu who spoke under oath with all kinds of risks in his testimony during a court session, it was not necessary for the president to wait for a court decision.
In response to a call for two ministers? resignation, the president, after summoning the two ministers at the state palace on Monday, said he would not yet suspend Forestry Minister MS Kaban and National Development Planning Minister/National Development Planning Board (Bapennas) Minister Paskah Suzetta pending the completion of the legal process on the allegations that they had received Bank Indonesia (BI) funds illegally distributed in 2003.
"So far, my action against a high-ranking government official who has become a defendant in a legal process has been relieve him his post temporarily," the president was quoted as saying.
The president said if the official in question was eventually found guilty by a court of law, he or she would be dismissed, otherwise he or she would be reinstated in his or her post.
