Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 11/11/2008 10:52 AM | Headlines
The Attorney General's Office on Monday detained prominent legal expert Romli Atmasasmita for his alleged role in a Rp 400 billion (US$3.6 million) graft case at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.
Romli, who helped draft a Corruption Court bill, was arrested after five hours of questioning over the case, in which former justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra is also implicated.
"We charge the suspect (Romli) with corruption following strong evidence such as documents and witness testimonies," said Faried Haryanto, head of the AGO team probing the case.
"He was detained to ensure a smooth investigation," he said, adding Romli would be held for 20 days.
Romli, the ministry's director general of legal administration from 1999-2002, was arrested for his alleged role in the internal distribution of funds embezzled from a legal administration website run by his former office.
The website, www.sisminbakum.com, had since 2001 allowed legal entities to register for permits and nominate notaries. The services on offer were charged from between Rp 250,000 and Rp 1 million.
The directorate general received 200 applications daily from notaries throughout the country, generating monthly revenue of Rp 5 billion to Rp 9 billion, AGO data shows.
The funds were distributed on a monthly basis to private company PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), several top officials at the directorate general and their subordinates, instead of going into state coffers.
The AGO alleges SRD received 90 percent of monthly revenues, with the remainder going to the ministry's officials and distributed by seniority. The secretary-general, the AGO says, received Rp 5 million per month and directors general such as Romli received Rp 10 million.
Romli denies all the charges against him, accusing the AGO of plotting a "scenario to harm (his) reputation" as an anti-corruption expert.
He refused to sign his arrest warrant.
"I didn't do anything wrong. This is a scenario, as the deputy attorney general had instructed this arrest since Oct. 8 in a letter," Romli said upon his arrest.
Romli's lawyer Denny Kailimang said his client had never received any money generated by the ministry's website services.
He said Romli only wrote an internal letter to inform officials at his directorate general about the implementation of the online services.
"He made the letter merely to follow up on a ministerial decree on the services, signed by (former) justice and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra. He only did what the decree told him to," Denny said.
Romli, a law professor at Bandung's Padjajaran University, was part of a government team of experts responsible for drafting a Corruption Court bill.
He was a vocal critic of the AGO for its failure to recover some Rp 6 trillion from major graft suspects, and for its shoddy performance in resolving the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) graft cases.
AGO spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan denied his office had trumped up the charges to ensnare Romli.
"We built this case following reports from the public," he said, adding the attorney general and his deputy knew nothing about the case prior to prosecutors' initial investigations.
Also on Monday, the AGO questioned a witness it identified only as a renowned tycoon and part owner of SRD, the company that provided the IT system for the online services.
The Attorney General's Office on Monday detained prominent legal expert Romli Atmasasmita for his alleged role in a Rp 400 billion (US$3.6 million) graft case at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.
Romli, who helped draft a Corruption Court bill, was arrested after five hours of questioning over the case, in which former justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra is also implicated.
"We charge the suspect (Romli) with corruption following strong evidence such as documents and witness testimonies," said Faried Haryanto, head of the AGO team probing the case.
"He was detained to ensure a smooth investigation," he said, adding Romli would be held for 20 days.
Romli, the ministry's director general of legal administration from 1999-2002, was arrested for his alleged role in the internal distribution of funds embezzled from a legal administration website run by his former office.
The website, www.sisminbakum.com, had since 2001 allowed legal entities to register for permits and nominate notaries. The services on offer were charged from between Rp 250,000 and Rp 1 million.
The directorate general received 200 applications daily from notaries throughout the country, generating monthly revenue of Rp 5 billion to Rp 9 billion, AGO data shows.
The funds were distributed on a monthly basis to private company PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), several top officials at the directorate general and their subordinates, instead of going into state coffers.
The AGO alleges SRD received 90 percent of monthly revenues, with the remainder going to the ministry's officials and distributed by seniority. The secretary-general, the AGO says, received Rp 5 million per month and directors general such as Romli received Rp 10 million.
Romli denies all the charges against him, accusing the AGO of plotting a "scenario to harm (his) reputation" as an anti-corruption expert.
He refused to sign his arrest warrant.
"I didn't do anything wrong. This is a scenario, as the deputy attorney general had instructed this arrest since Oct. 8 in a letter," Romli said upon his arrest.
Romli's lawyer Denny Kailimang said his client had never received any money generated by the ministry's website services.
He said Romli only wrote an internal letter to inform officials at his directorate general about the implementation of the online services.
"He made the letter merely to follow up on a ministerial decree on the services, signed by (former) justice and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra. He only did what the decree told him to," Denny said.
Romli, a law professor at Bandung's Padjajaran University, was part of a government team of experts responsible for drafting a Corruption Court bill.
He was a vocal critic of the AGO for its failure to recover some Rp 6 trillion from major graft suspects, and for its shoddy performance in resolving the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) graft cases.
AGO spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan denied his office had trumped up the charges to ensnare Romli.
"We built this case following reports from the public," he said, adding the attorney general and his deputy knew nothing about the case prior to prosecutors' initial investigations.
Also on Monday, the AGO questioned a witness it identified only as a renowned tycoon and part owner of SRD, the company that provided the IT system for the online services.