Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 11/21/2008 11:17 AM | Headlines
Former justice and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra underwent a second round of questioning Thursday about his role in an alleged corruption scandal at the ministry.
He arrived at the Attorney General's Office at around 2 p.m. and was still being grilled as of 11 p.m.
Yusril continued to deny any involvement in the internal distribution of funds embezzled from an online service system, which allegedly caused Rp 400 billion (US$33.9 million) in state losses. He said the internal distribution scheme was devised after he had left the ministry.
"The (justice) minister at that time was Mahfud M.D.," Yusril said, referring to the current head of the Constitutional Court.
Mahfud was acting justice minister for three weeks from July 20, 2001, while serving as defense minister. Yusril admitted he knew about the 10:90 revenue split between the ministry's cooperatives and private company PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), the system provider.
But he denied knowing about the ministry's 10 percent share being split up between cooperatives and senior officials.
The AGO earlier said 60 percent of the money received by the cooperatives was given to officials at the ministry's directorate general of public law administration, with the rest going to the cooperatives.
Under this deal, according to the AGO, the directors general received an average of Rp 10 million per month and their secretaries around Rp 5 million.
Directors got Rp 2 million each, while the heads of subdirectorates received around Rp 1.5 million per month. The money was used for personal purposes, including funding overseas trips for the officials' wives.
"I really had no idea about the deal. It was made on July 25, 2001, nine months after the activation of the online system, and after I left the ministry on Feb. 8, 2001," Yusril said.
Upon arriving at the AGO office on Thursday, Yusril claimed his successor Marsilam Simanjuntak knew about the deal, but hours later he retracted this allegation.
"I was wrong. Marsilam was no longer the justice minister by that time. It was Mahfud M.D., but I guess he didn't know about it either because (the political situation) during the Abdurrahman Wahid administration was quite chaotic," Yusril said.
Yusril is implicated in the scandal that centers on a website, www.sisminbakum.com, run by the ministry's directorate general of public law administration.
The website had since 2001 allowed legal entities to register for permits and nominate notaries, with services ranging in price from Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million.
The AGO said the revenue from the legal administration website, amounting to Rp 9 billion per month, should have gone to state coffers as non-tax revenue.
Yusril signed a ministerial decree in 2000 directly appointing SRD to build the website, and another one on the activation of the system.
Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendi said the proclivity of those involved to pin the blame on others was confusing.
"Everyone is pointing fingers at each other to avoid blame. Nobody wants to be held accountable," he said. Marsilam, Marwan pointed out, had in fact objected to the online system.
"When Marsilam was still the state secretary, he wrote a letter to the justice ministry, saying the implementation of the online system went against the 1999 regulation on non-tax revenue.
"However, no one heeded his warning, and the system went on to be implemented," Marwan said, adding that prosecutors had obtained Marsilam's letter as evidence.
Legal experts say the AGO has sufficient evidence to press criminal charges against Yusril over the case.
They argue the decision by Yusril to authorize a private firm to operate the website and collect fees without paying the state any dues could be seen as violations of various laws, including the corruption law, corporation law and state finance law.
Former justice and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra underwent a second round of questioning Thursday about his role in an alleged corruption scandal at the ministry.
He arrived at the Attorney General's Office at around 2 p.m. and was still being grilled as of 11 p.m.
Yusril continued to deny any involvement in the internal distribution of funds embezzled from an online service system, which allegedly caused Rp 400 billion (US$33.9 million) in state losses. He said the internal distribution scheme was devised after he had left the ministry.
"The (justice) minister at that time was Mahfud M.D.," Yusril said, referring to the current head of the Constitutional Court.
Mahfud was acting justice minister for three weeks from July 20, 2001, while serving as defense minister. Yusril admitted he knew about the 10:90 revenue split between the ministry's cooperatives and private company PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), the system provider.
But he denied knowing about the ministry's 10 percent share being split up between cooperatives and senior officials.
The AGO earlier said 60 percent of the money received by the cooperatives was given to officials at the ministry's directorate general of public law administration, with the rest going to the cooperatives.
Under this deal, according to the AGO, the directors general received an average of Rp 10 million per month and their secretaries around Rp 5 million.
Directors got Rp 2 million each, while the heads of subdirectorates received around Rp 1.5 million per month. The money was used for personal purposes, including funding overseas trips for the officials' wives.
"I really had no idea about the deal. It was made on July 25, 2001, nine months after the activation of the online system, and after I left the ministry on Feb. 8, 2001," Yusril said.
Upon arriving at the AGO office on Thursday, Yusril claimed his successor Marsilam Simanjuntak knew about the deal, but hours later he retracted this allegation.
"I was wrong. Marsilam was no longer the justice minister by that time. It was Mahfud M.D., but I guess he didn't know about it either because (the political situation) during the Abdurrahman Wahid administration was quite chaotic," Yusril said.
Yusril is implicated in the scandal that centers on a website, www.sisminbakum.com, run by the ministry's directorate general of public law administration.
The website had since 2001 allowed legal entities to register for permits and nominate notaries, with services ranging in price from Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million.
The AGO said the revenue from the legal administration website, amounting to Rp 9 billion per month, should have gone to state coffers as non-tax revenue.
Yusril signed a ministerial decree in 2000 directly appointing SRD to build the website, and another one on the activation of the system.
Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendi said the proclivity of those involved to pin the blame on others was confusing.
"Everyone is pointing fingers at each other to avoid blame. Nobody wants to be held accountable," he said. Marsilam, Marwan pointed out, had in fact objected to the online system.
"When Marsilam was still the state secretary, he wrote a letter to the justice ministry, saying the implementation of the online system went against the 1999 regulation on non-tax revenue.
"However, no one heeded his warning, and the system went on to be implemented," Marwan said, adding that prosecutors had obtained Marsilam's letter as evidence.
Legal experts say the AGO has sufficient evidence to press criminal charges against Yusril over the case.
They argue the decision by Yusril to authorize a private firm to operate the website and collect fees without paying the state any dues could be seen as violations of various laws, including the corruption law, corporation law and state finance law.
