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Jail Indonesia's parl't
chief for 4 yrs-prosecutors
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Reuters
Wednesday July 24, 8:58 PM
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Jail Indonesia's parl't chief for
4 yrs-prosecutors
JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) -
Indonesian prosecutors on Wednesday demanded parliament speaker
Akbar Tandjung be jailed for four years over the alleged misuse of
$4 million in a politically sensitive graft scandal.
Summing up his case at the Central
Jakarta Court, state prosecutor Fachmi accused Tandjung of lying
and said he had treated the money like his own when it was
channelled through the State Secretariat in 1999, which Tandjung
headed at the time.
Tandjung had faced a maximum of 20
years in jail over the charges of abuse of power and graft. The
trial was adjourned for a week and a verdict is expected early
next month.
The case involves money taken from
state food agency Bulog that was meant for Indonesia's poor. It
has put the spotlight on President Megawati Sukarnoputri's
coalition government, in which Tandjung's Golkar party is the most
important partner.
"The improprieties in the case
involving the handover of cheques, (not issuing)
receipts...indicates that he intentionally wanted to enrich
himself and the other defendants," Fachmi said, reading from
a 300-page summation that took all day to deliver.
"Akbar Tandjung has launched
one lie after another..."
In a twist in the case, one
defendant, a little known businessman, returned all the money
earlier this year, leading some political analysts to speculate
that could mean reduced penalties.
Megawati took power a year ago
promising to root out Indonesia's endemic graft, but many analysts
remain sceptical she will achieve much with her passive
leadership, or that several high-profile graft cases winding their
way through the courts will make a big difference.
Tandjung has repeatedly denied any
wrongdoing in the case and insisted Golkar, which he heads, did
not use the funds.
He has also refused to quit as
parliamentary speaker or as chairman of Golkar.
There have been accusations the
funds were used by Golkar during the last election in 1999. Golkar
was the political vehicle of long-time autocrat Suharto, who
stepped down in 1998.
Megawati's Indonesia Democratic
Party-Struggle (PDI-P) is parliament's largest party, with about a
third of seats. Golkar is the second biggest and together the two
hold a majority.
Some politicians and political
analysts have said the PDI-P/Golkar alliance has held despite
Tandjung's trial, partly because both sides have an interest in
maintaining their union at least until the next election in 2004.
Several other Golkar members,
including the Bulog chief at the time, have been linked to the
scandal.
Veteran politician Tandjung is one
of Indonesia's political survivors after holding jobs in three
Suharto cabinets and also during the one-year rule of former
President B.J. Habibie.
His trial has moved at a glacial
pace for the past four months, with around one hearing a week.
On Friday a court will announce its
verdict in the trial of Suharto's favourite son Tommy, who is
charged with masterminding a murder, possessing illegal arms and
evading a graft conviction.
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