Indonesian President Pledges Police Reform

Jakarta Globe, August 31, 2010         

Jakarta. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised on Tuesday to replace Indonesia's much-maligned chiefs of police and prosecutors but denied the reshuffle was linked to corruption and incompetence.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in this file photo,
 pledged on Tuesday to replace the chiefs of police and
 prosecutors but denied that the moves were political.
 (Bloomberg Photo/Ian Waldie)                

His comments to cabinet ministers came as businessman Anggodo Widjojo was sentenced to four years in jail for attempting to bribe anti-graft investigators with the alleged backing of top police and prosecutors.

The case shocked the nation when it broke last year but it was far from an isolated incident, with reports of alleged judicial graft and misconduct filling the pages of the newspapers on a daily basis.

Yudhoyono said the law enforcement agencies needed to be professional and "fair", and called for any official found to be involved in wrongdoing to be punished.

"If any police members or prosecutors are involved in any violations, measures should be taken against them according to the law with transparency and high accountability," he said.

National police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji would be replaced along with the head of the armed forces as part of a scheduled reshuffle, he said.

"These officials will end their terms in line with the existing law," he said, adding that he was "not pleased" by suggestions the changes were political.

The reshuffle is expected to take place in October and speculation is mounting about who will take over the embattled institutions.

Yudhoyono has won two elections on the back of promises to stamp out chronic corruption but his reform efforts have stalled amid opposition from vested interests including lawmakers and police.

Agence France-Presse

President proposes Bambang, Busyro as KPK leader candidates

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 08/31/2010 5:41 PM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially proposed Bambang Widjojanto and Busyro Muqoddas as Corruption Eradication Commission leader candidates to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The president underlined that the selection of the two final candidates was free from his intervention.

“The selection team members are figures who have integrity, capability and credibility. The law does not give the president an authority to intervene the selection process and I uphold the stipulation,” Yudhoyono told a press conference.

He said both Bambang and Busyro were the best candidates who had undergone a strict selection process. The president also expected that whoever passed the House screening could help uproot corruption.

“We want the KPK to work effectively in line with our program to fight corruption and uphold the law,” Yudhoyono said.

The House has three months to respond to the nomination of Bambang and Busyro.

Anggodo Widjojo Jailed for 4 Years for Attempted Bribery

Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda | August 31, 2010

Related articles

• Corruption Web Involving Senior Energy Ministry Officials Grows: KPK - Aug 30, 2010
• Questions Over State Enterprises Minister's Trip to China with Indonesian Tycoon - Aug 27, 2010
• Two Names Left in Race to Take Up Indonesia's Uphill Battle Against Corruption - Aug 27, 2010
• First Indonesian Judge Convicted of Graft Jailed for Six Years - Aug 2, 2010
• Whereabouts of Indonesia’s Top Cop a Mystery - Aug 13, 2010

Jakarta. Controversial businessman Anggodo Widjojo has been jailed him for four years after the Anti-Corruption Court convicted him of attempted bribery.

The jail term, delivered by presiding Judge Tjokorda Rai Suamba, is less than the prosecution’s demand of six years.

Attempted bribery carries a minimum 3-year sentence and a maximum jail term of 12 years.

Anggodo was found guilty of attempting to bribe officials from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with as much as Rp 5.1 billion ($566,000) in an attempt to get it to drop a corruption case against his brother, Anggoro Widjojo, who is still at large.

The prosecutor also recommended Anggodo be fined Rp 200 million.

Anggodo’s lawyer, OC Kaligis, appealed the sentence.

Anggodo is a hugely controversial figure and was central in an alleged plot to bring down the respected KPK. Elements of the National Police and Attorney General's Office were also alleged to have been involved.

Corruption Web Involving Senior Energy Ministry Officials Grows: KPK

Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda | August 30, 2010

                                    

Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission had laid a second charge against an official from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in connection with a solar energy project corruption scandal.

Jacobus Purwono, director general of electricity, and Kosasih Abbas, chief of renewable energy, were named suspects in June for their alleged involvement in a tender rigging and budget inflation case connected to a solar energy project aimed at providing electricity to remote villages in 2007 and 2008.

Johan Budi, a spokesman for the antigraft body, also known as the KPK, said on Monday that last week the body named Jacobus as a suspect for a similar scheme in 2009.

For the 2009 case, the KPK also named Ridwan Sanjaya, a ministry official who was in charge of the project’s procurement process.

“We suspected that there had been a budget inflation that cost the state Rp 150 billion [$16.7 million] in losses,” Johan said. “This is a continuation of our investigation into the 2007 and 2008 case.”

The spokesman added that there were similarities in both cases. Jacobus and the other two officials are accused of receiving kickbacks from companies bidding on the project in exchange for naming them winners of the tender processes.

In 2007 alone, the ministry installed 33,000 solar panels across 30 provinces, with each able to produce as much as 4.5 kilowatts per day.

The commission estimated Rp 119 billion in state losses from the 2007-2008 projects, which were valued at more than Rp 1 trillion.

Johan added that the three allegedly received at least Rp 4.6 billion in kickbacks from project contractors. The pair later claimed the money was ‘tactical funds’ from contractors to avoid detection.

The commission had been looking into the case for the past few months and had been able to gather enough evidence to charge the officials with violating Articles 2, 3, 5 and 11 of the 1999 Law on Corruption, which carry a combined maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

“It is possible that the case could develop further and more suspects could be named,” Johan said.

Energy Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh told reporters that he would not intervene in the legal process.

“I don’t want to rush into a conclusion as to whether the allegations are true or not. I just hope the legal process is fair and just,” the minister was quoted by Antara as saying.

Jacobus could not be reached for comment.

President asks Malaysian PM to solve heated relations

Antara News, Saturday, August 28, 2010 19:16 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News)  - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to solve the heated relations between the two countries.

"One of the points in the letter the President had sent to the Malaysian PM was a call to solve the problem with goodwill to avoid undesirables," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto said in Jakarta Friday.

After heading a breaking of the fast with members of the ministry of political, legal and security affairs, the President said he had sent a letter to Malaysian PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to solve the problem to avoid any undesirables.

"The President has signed a letter to the Malaysian PM in view of the heating relations between the two countries," Djoko said.

He also said that the border talks will be carried out in detail in a foreign ministerial meeting on September 6, 2010.

The breaking the fast occasion was also attended by Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of legal and Human Rights Affairs Patrialis Akbar, Military Chief General Djoko Santoso, and Attorney General Hendarman.

Only 21 SOEs fully comply with mandatory wealth report

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 08/28/2010 10:48 AM

Only 21 out of 141 state-owned enterprises have fully complied with the mandatory wealth report requested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as part of the country’s fight against graft.

The State-owned Enterprises Ministry data revealed that as of Aug. 24 the 21 state companies, including PT Pelindo II, PT Adhi Karya, PT Inhutani III, PT Inhutani IV, PT Asabri, PT Jasindo, PT Jasaraharja, PT Dahana, PT Wijaya Karya, PT Pembangunan Perumahan, PT Sarinah, PT Inka, PT Pradnya Paramita, Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI), PT Reindo, PT Batan Teknologi, have submitted wealth reports of all their executives to the KPK.

State firms which are considered less compliant with the compulsory wealth report include national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia, state bank PT Bank BNI and state gas distributor PT PGN, Antara news agency quoted the ministry.

The ministry also said 5,550 or 86 percent of state company officials subject to the wealth report policy had fulfilled their obligation.  

SOE Minister Mustafa Abubakar had asked the KPK to remind the state company officials.

He expected all the defiant state firm officials to declare their wealth by the end of September. The government, he added, will impose sanctions, ranging from salary cut to demotion, against those who refuse to report their assets.

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Big names

The Jakarta Post, Antara | Fri, 08/27/2010 1:59 PM

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar (sixth left) leads a press conference at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Friday after a selection committee for the new chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) gave two candidate names to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The committee chose Judicial Commission chairman Muhammad Busyro Muqoddas and human rights activist Bambang Widjojanto out of seven final candidates. Antara/PAndu Dewantara

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"The Walls Got Ears" May Finally Develop Its Meaning (in Indonesian Law)

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta, Wednesday, 25 August, 2010 | 23:37 WIB

The Corruption Eradication Commission has pledged for a greater public participation in the tremendous campaign against corruption as the commission invited some members of public who seriously craving for a lawful society to become the eyes and ears of the commission, or simply put, a whistleblower.

A software to support electronic reporting mechanism which has actually available since a year ago and has now finished its testing period is now -introduced with an improved feature that would protect the identity of a whistleblower.

In a ceremony to launch the "Whistleblower System" today (25/8) after about a year of trial, the anti-graft commission invited the public, especially those in the public service to contribute in their campaign by filing report of grafts in their respective institutions.

This is a relieving progress in Indonesian legal system considering that there has been no law yet in the nation that provides the legal position for wiretapped evidence in any legal proceedings. But the new mechanism, which relies heavily on public willingness to participate, needs to prove itself first.

Deputy Chairman of the body Haryono Umar said at the launching “the program has been implemented for a year at the anti-graft office. And evaluation on the system suggested that the report should be made mostly by civil servants.”

The system enables state officials to file report electronically through devices to be installed at seven departments and one state enterprise in agreement with the anti-graft body; the Education Department, Interior Ministry, Health Department, Finance Department, Forestry Department, Agriculture Department, Public Works Department, and the State Electricity Company.

The list did not come as a random picks as Umar said several departments selected has te largest spending allowance like the Education Department. While the other, the Finance Department runs the function of financial regulator and responsible to handle the state revenue, which make it a proper subject of supervision.

The Defense Department which is going to be the third largest institution by the size of spending next year is no where list.

Wider Public Participation

While the system is going to be installed at the institutions mentioned above, the public is not going to be excluded in the campaign. The commission said a similar reporting form is available on its official website www.kws.kpk.go.id.

"It's not complicated actually, only three questions which should be answered by the reporting indivual(s)."

MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI

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Brebes regent suspended for graft

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 08/25/2010 10:47 PM

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi has suspended Brebes regent Indra Kusuma, who is standing trial for a graft case.

Assistant to the Central Java regency’s secretary Muhammad Supriyono said the suspension order was issued on Aug. 7, but only took effect on Wednesday after the regional government received a ministerial decree regarding the policy.

Deputy Regent Agung Widiyantoro will take over from Indra as acting regent and will be named the definite regent if the Supreme Court convicts the non-active regent.

Supriyono said Indra would no longer be entitled to facilities he used to enjoy as the regent. “We will give him time to return the facilities,” Supriyono was quoted by Antara news agency.

Indra is being charged with marking up the price of a 2,000 square meter plot of land procured for a market construction project in 2003

Panasonic Plans Hub in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Camelia Pasandaran | August 25, 2010

Jakarta. In a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Wednesday, the head of Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic confirmed that it planned to move its production base to Indonesia, senior Indonesian government officials said.

Panasonic plans to relocate factories in China to
Indonesia, citing drastically lower labor costs.
(EPA Photo)

Gita Wirjawan, chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), said Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo told Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono in separate meetings that the company would move its factories from China and Vietnam to Indonesia to take advantage of lower wages and the booming economy, which is driven by consumer spending.

Gita first revealed that Panasonic was considering such a move in March.

Industry Minister MS Hidayat, who was present at Ohtsubo’s meeting with Boediono, said Panasonic was upbeat about the country’s economic prospects, and would close its factories in China and relocate them here. He did not offer a timeframe or investment value for the move.

“They are committed to making Indonesia the production base for exports as well as for the domestic market,” Hidayat said.

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the average wage for factory workers in China is about three times more expensive than in Indonesia — $413 versus $129 a month — while wages in Vietnam were $136.

The report cited research by JP Morgan, CEIC and the International Labor Association.

Rachmat Gobel, the chairman of Panasonic Gobel, the electronics firm’s local unit, also declined to cite an investment value for Panasonic’s factory relocations, saying only that the parent company had been continuously investing in Indonesia, and had already brought the total to $400 million.

Panasonic’s three factories in Indonesia — in Jakarta, Surabaya and Batam — make home appliances, personal electronics and batteries.

“Its current annual turnover [in Indonesia] is $850 million,” Gita said, adding that it is expected to surge to $3 billion by 2014, partly because of its recent acquisition of Sanyo.

Yopie Hidayat, a spokesman for Boediono, said Panasonic told the vice president the company may also develop solar panels domestically.

“It plans to turn houses into self-sufficient energy houses with zero emissions,” Yopie said. “They made the prototype in Japan but are considering whether to develop the industry there or in Indonesia considering the skilled-laborers here and the availability of abundant solar energy. The vice president supports the plan to make Indonesia as the production base, not only as the market.”

“They’re still considering the solar panel development here,” he added. “But the LED factories have been here and there’s also plans to extend the battery production factory.”

Boediono encouraged Panasonic to develop solar energy as it could supply remote regions of the country with electricity.

Gita and Hidayat both said Panasonic’s decision was expected to convince other companies to make Indonesia their production base.

Indonesia Sets Up Government Unit to Boost Renewable Energy Use

Jakarta Globe, Bambang Djanuarto, August 24, 2010

Energy Minister Darwin Saleh has established a directorate general in charge of renewable energy. It is to be headed Luluk Sumiarso, the former director general for electricity, and oil and gas.

Jakarta. Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy has set up a directorate general in charge of boosting and regulating the use of renewable energy in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

The directorate general’s task is to “formulate policies and the technical standardization on new energy, renewable energy and energy conservation,” Energy Minister Darwin Saleh said in Jakarta on Tuesday. The office will be headed by Luluk Sumiarso, the former director general for electricity, and oil and gas, he said.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, which can be used to make biofuel. The nation, which is a net oil importer, seeks to boost the use of new energy and renewable energy to support a faster expanding economy. The government forecasts the economy to grow 6 percent this year from 4.5 percent in 2009.

Indonesia left the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year after crude oil output slumped 49 percent from a peak in 1977.

Bloomberg

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Watchdog Barks at Illegal Commutations for Corruptors

Tempo Interactive, Wednesday, 18 August, 2010 | 21:29 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Indonesia Corruption Watch has resumed criticism against the indonesia judiciary system, this time at the Justice Department who had involved the watchdog in the selection process for the new chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission.

The Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar had been lashed for the commutations for felons punished for corruption despite special restrictions for commutation on corruption and terrorism.

Emerson Yuntho Vice Coordinator of the watchdog said "there is regulation against sentence reduction for convicted corruptors and terrorism (before they serve one third of their terms)."

The watchdog said the Law Department is not committed to the regulation which governs them as sentence reduction were handed to several very important prisoners to mark the Independence Day on yesterday.

Some of the important convicts are Aulia Pohan, father in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's eldest son. The ex-Bank Indonesia deputy was given four and a half years last June and received three months of term cut yesterday.

Danny Setiawan ex-West Java governor got 110-day cut of his four year term after less than 14 months in jail.

Al-Amien Nasution, former lawmaker with the United development Party who was sentenced to eight years in prison in january 2009 got four months reduction.

Abdul Hadi Djamal ex-lawmaker from the National Mandate Party got more than eighty day remission who actually need to serve uncut sentence until october this year to get a legal reduction.

And the newest kid on the block, Ret. Inspector General Udju Djuhaeri ex-lawmaker from the Military and Police faction who was jailed for bribery in the selection of Miranda Gultom as the senior deputy of Bank Indonesia in 2004, got one and a half month discount after just three months in the joint of his two year sentence.

SANDY INDRA PRATAMA | KORAN TEMPO

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2011 state budget aims to reach 10 strategic goals: President

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 08/16/2010 2:15 PM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unveiled on Monday the 2011 state budget that would have a total spending of Rp 1,200 trillion (US$130 billion), up 6.7 percent from this year's budget.

President: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono- JP

Speaking before the House of Representatives (DPR), Yudhoyono said that the government aimed to collect Rp 1,086 trillion in revenues for next year budget, mainly from taxes, leaving a deficit of Rp 115.7 trillion, or 1.7 percent of the country's gross domestic products.

The president said that tax revenues for 2011 were expected to reach Rp 839.5 trillion, or 77 percent of total state revenues.

With that level of tax income, the country's tax ratio would improve slightly to 12 percent.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Monday that the 2011 state budget would aim to reach 10 strategic goals.

"The goals include a higher economy growth, a lower jobless rate by creating more job opportunities, and a lower poverty rate," Yudhoyono said in a note of the 2011 draft state budget prepared for the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council legislators.

He added the other goals were an increased per capita income, a good economy stability, a stronger local financing, and an improved food and water security.

"Energy security must also increase, as well as the national economy competitiveness. An environment friendly development must also be strengthened," Yudhoyono said.

West Java representatives reported to KPK for bribery

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung | Sat, 08/14/2010 10:35 AM | The Archipelago

A parliamentary watchdog said it reported five West Java provincial legislative leaders to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly accepting bribes from regency and mayoralty administrations.

West Java Parliament Watch chief Asep Hadian Permana said Friday that the officials were bribed to influence their decision on the amount of cash assistance administrations would receive from the 2009 and 2010 provincial budgets.

West Java Parliament Watch had obtained evidence to support the bribery allegations from documents detailing cash transfers to the West Java legislative leaders, he said.

The amount of the bribes was from 5 to 10 percent of the total cash value of assistance allocated by the provincial budget to each regency and mayoralty administration, he added.

Regencies and mayoralty administrations typically receive between Rp 15 billion (US$1.66 million) and Rp 30 billion from provincial budgets.

Asep said that Bekasi mayoralty and Bogor regency administration officials said that they were willing to testify in the case out of concern of being pressured by the West Java representatives.

“We reported the case to the KPK on Aug. 9 and were accompanied by the Indonesian Corruption Watch,” Asep told The Jakarta Post in Bandung, West Java, on Friday.

“Such illegal practices should not take place now, in the reform era,” he added.

The group also urged the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), as the state’s official auditor, to be involved in investigating the allegations.

The BPK could help audit the bank accounts of the five West Java legislators, which include the council’s speaker, who is from the Democrat Party, and his four deputies, Asep said.

The deputies are from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Golkar Party, the Justice Prosperous Party and the United Development Party.

Asep said the legislative leaders had allegedly approached the regency and mayoralty administrations and promised to facilitate cash disbursements if the regional leaders paid them a fee.

“The bigger the fee, the bigger the amount of assistance [regional leaders] would get,” he said.

Asep said he had proof of a Rp 1.4 billion bribe paid by the Bogor regency administration, which eventually received Rp 15 billion from the provincial budget, adding that there was also proof that Subang regency officials paid Rp 3.4 billion to obtain Rp 30 billion in assistance.

“We have handed over all the evidence to the KPK, which immediately started to investigate the case.”

West Java legislative speaker Irfan Suryanagara said his council absolutely did not understand the

accusation because the report filed with KPK alleged bribery when all funds were accounted for.

“There’s no imbalanced in funds from the province. Don’t simply report [allegations to the KPK] and not have the guts to tell it to the media,” said Irfan.

The amount of assistance funds cannot be influenced because the percentages and amounts were set by law, he said.

“The rules are clear. If someone receives more than is allowed, the central government will know about it and it would be a problem,” said Irfan.

West Lombok officals named graft suspects

The Jakarta Post, Mataram | Sat, 08/14/2010 10:38 AM | The Archipelago

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: The Mataram Prosecutor’s Office named the West Lombok regency secretary, identified as LS, and its treasurer, identified as AA, as suspects in the alleged misappropriation of Rp 38 billion (US$4.2 million) from the regency’s budget in 2008.

The pair was alleged to have abused their power to disburse social funds and channeled money to a several foundations and organizations, which were later discovered to be fictitious.

“We have named LS and AA as suspects in the case. The exact amount of state losses is still being assessed,” said Mataram Prosecutor’s Office head Ida Bagus Wiswantanu in Mataram on Friday.

In 2008, the West Lombok administration set aside Rp 38 billion in social funds to help social groups and foundations that had previously applied for assistance to the administration.

“Most of them turned out to be fictitious,” he said.

The case came to light when an NGO reported allegations of malfeasance to the prosecutor’s office early this year.

Despite naming them suspects, prosecutors said that they have yet to question the officials. Wiswantanu said they would be interrogated after Idul Fitri. — JP

Confirmed: Police lied, recording never existed

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 08/12/2010 9:26 AM

Police have retracted a previous claim to have wiretapped phone conversations between a KPK official and a case broker, after having promised to present the alleged recordings to the Corruption Court.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said Wednesday the police did not have wiretapped conversations between Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy Ade Rahardja and suspected case broker Ary Muladi.

“What we have is not a tape. It is only the [call detail records],” Ito said.

The call detail records contain information on call traffic and the duration of calls made.

Previously National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri had repeatedly claimed the police had wiretapped recordings, which would have formed strong evidence to back up police and Attoney General’s Office (AGO) allegations that KPK leaders had attempted to extort money from businessman Anggodo Widjojo.

Activists had repeatedly voiced suspicions that the tapes did not exist after the police had three times disobeyed the court’s order to present them in the graft trial of Anggodo.

Two weeks ago, Anggodo’s lawyers requested the judges order the police to present the recordings.

Anggodo’s side believed the police had the tapes, which they thought could prove the KPK had attempted to extort money from him.

Ito’s statement explains why police had failed to present the tapes. However, the CDR would be presented to the court, he said.

“We will submit it [Wednesday],” he said.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) denied any responsibility for the mistake.

“Neither the tape nor transcripts [of conversations] are with us,” AGO spokesman Babul Khoir Harahap said.

This statement, however, contradicted that of Attorney General Hendarman Supandji in November, before members of House of Representatives’ Commission III overseeing law and human rights.

“We have evidence that Ary Muladi visited the KPK office six times, and made 64 phone calls to Ade Rahardja,” Hendarman said.

Babul said Hendarman’s statement was based on the police case files in last year’s attempted prosecution of KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah.

The dossiers cite visits and phone calls among evidence.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Febri Diansyah said Ito’s admission reinforced allegations that the police had fabricated the bribery accusations levelled against Bibit and Chandra.

“We urge Attorney General Hendarman Supandji and National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to take responsibility for this mistake.

“The two must resign from their posts because, as high-level state officials, it’s very inappropriate to lie to the court,” Febri said.

At the beginning of the investigation into this case, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Johan Budi said the KPK’s internal supervision department had checked calls made by Ade already.

“We did not find any call data records for conversations allegedly involving Ade Rahardja and Ary Muladi.

“But, it is possible that our CDR is different to the police’s,” Johan said.

Both Ade and Ari had denied knowing each other.

“When the National Police said the recording of wiretapped conversations existed, we were also interested to hear them played back in court as demanded by judges, to reveal the truth,” Johan said. (gzl/lnd)

National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, right. Bambang failed to attend a ceremony at Police National headquarters on Friday amid confusion as to his whereabouts. (Antara Photo/Widodo S)

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Andi admits bribing police general in Gayus case

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 08/11/2010 10:16 AM

JAKARTA: Businessman Andi Kosasih told a court Tuesday that he had bribed a top police detective in connection with the corruption case of former junior tax official Gayus Tambunan.

Andi said he gave US$10,500 in cash to Brig. Gen. Edmon Ilyas, then chief detective of the National Police’s special crimes unit, through a middleman, police detective Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini.

“The money came from Gayus. He gave it to me at the Ritz-Carlton in Jakarta,” Andi said at Sumartini’s graft trial at the South Jakarta District Court.

Andi said he gave the money to Sumartini at the Kemang Hotel.

Sumartini admitted that she gave the money to Edmon, who was then her superior. “I received the money on the orders of my boss,” she said.

Edmon and his successor, Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman, have been repeatedly implicated by other defendants in Gayus’ ever-expanding judicial corruption case, but not charged with wrongdoing by prosecutors or the police ethics committee. — JP

KPK tells SOE executives to submit wealth reports

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Tue, 08/10/2010 10:08 AM

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chief Haryono Umar has asked State-owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar to crack down on SOE executives who fail to report their personal wealth to the KPK.

The antigraft commission said that only 60 percent of about 141 state-owned companies nationwide had complied with a regulation requiring state officials to report their wealth to the KPK.

“We expect the SOE officials who haven’t submitted their reports to submit them by Aug. 17 at the latest. If they fail to comply with this deadline, then I dare those who have the authority to dismiss these directors,” Haryono said as quoted by detik.com on Monday.

Haryono added that the minister should also impose sanctions on those who were late in submitting their reports by postponing their promotions.

“The Administrative Reforms Ministry, for example, has issued a decree on the postponement of promotions and cuts for monthly incentives for those who have disrupted the administration improvement effort,” he said.

Mustafa said that as of Monday about 1,097 SOE executives had not submitted their wealth reports to the KPK. They have been told to fulfill that obligation before Aug. 17.

The minister added that as of Aug. 6, a total of 6,453 directors from 141 state firms, or around 84 percent, were registered to have submitted their wealth reports to the KPK.

To improve their compliance, the ministry has said it will cooperate with the KPK to become more proactive in informing SOE officials of their obligation to submit the wealth forms.

“We are now urging them to complete and then submit the reports before the deadline. We are upbeat that all of them will be able to meet the deadline,” he said.

He said board directors of 18 state-owned companies had submitted complete wealth reports.

Among them are PT Bank Rak-yat Indonesia, the Country Saving Bank, PT Nusantara Plantation II and IX and PT Indonesian Harbor.

Indonesia and Turkey Beat Investors’ Expectations by Outperforming BRICs

Jakarta Globe, Michael Patterson | August 09, 2010

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Jakarta. Indonesia and Turkey are outpacing the biggest emerging markets by almost any financial measure, even while they may be too small to join the BRICs.

Indonesia’s equity index has climbed 21 percent this year and Turkey’s rose 13 percent, both hitting all-time highs on July 29.

Credit-market rallies sent yields on the nations’ foreign-currency debt to the lowest levels on record, JPMorgan Chase’s EMBI Global gauges show.

The MSCI BRIC Index of shares in Brazil, Russia, India and China is still 42 percent below its peak after losing 1.2 percent this year.

Less than two years after the global financial crisis prompted concern Indonesia and Turkey would default, investors are betting lower debt, growing populations and rising profit will spur economic expansions that led Goldman Sachs Group’s Jim O’Neill to promote the BRIC nations in 2001.

While China’s gross domestic product is about 4.2 times Turkey and Indonesia’s combined, they lead the “Next 11” smaller emerging nations with the most potential to affect world growth, O’Neill says.

“There’s a paradigm shift in the way both countries have been governed and in terms of economic performance,” said Amer Bisat, a former International Monetary Fund economist who helps oversee more than $1 billion at hedge-fund Traxis Partners in New York.

Indonesia and Turkey are “large, extremely systemically important and stable,” he said. “The market is looking at them in a very different light.”

The largest emerging-market stock mutual fund managers, which oversee about $250 billion, boosted their holdings in Indonesia and Turkey to the top “overweight” positions among 21 markets in June on expectations the gains will continue, data compiled by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EPFR Global and JPMorgan of New York show.

The fund managers are increasingly optimistic as profit growth outpaces share prices in both countries, leaving the Jakarta Composite Index and ISE National 100 Index trading at price-earnings ratios about 20 percent below their pre-crisis peaks, according to Bloomberg.

Mark Mobius, who oversees about $34 billion as the Singapore-based chairman of Templeton Asset Management, said last month by e-mail that he planned to increase holdings of stocks in Turkey, where the firm already has more than $1 billion invested.

In June, he blogged that Templeton has a “positive take on investment opportunities” in Indonesia, while Antoine van Agtmael, chairman and chief investment officer of Emerging Markets Management in Arlington, Virginia, said on Bloomberg Television that the country was the most attractive among Southeast Asian markets.

The bullish bets are a turnaround from 2008, when investors shunned Indonesia and Turkey as the global economy fell into the worst recession since World War II.

The JCI and ISE both sank more than 50 percent, the nations’ currencies weakened at least 15 percent against the dollar and credit-default swap prices suggested a 66 percent chance of default for Indonesia and 52 percent odds for Turkey, Bloomberg data show.

Indonesian stocks are becoming more expensive relative to other developing markets.

The Jakarta gauge trades at 13.5 times analysts’ estimates for earnings over the next 12 months, near the highest on record relative to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is valued at 11.2 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg since 2006.

The MSCI BRIC gauge has a ratio of 11.

Turkish stock valuations factor in the nation’s political risks, while Indonesian companies have shown they can surpass analysts’ earnings projections, according to Martial Godet, who helps oversee more than $60 billion as the Paris-based head of emerging markets at BNP Paribas Investment Partners.

The ISE is valued at 9.6 times analysts’ profit forecasts for the next 12 months, a 14 percent discount to the MSCI emerging index, and companies in the JCI have beat analysts’ profit projections during the past five quarters, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“The momentum is good for both markets,” Godet said. “They are not mainstream investments so people will continue to add money. In both cases we have populated countries that are growing very well.”

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono oversaw economic expansion of at least 4 percent throughout the global recession.

That helped the JCI jump 175 percent from its 2008 low to 3,060.59 on Aug. 6, about 1.2 percent below the all-time closing high of 3,096.82.

The stock benchmark closed up 0.7 percent on Monday, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.4 percent to its highest in more than three months.

Indonesia’s $540 billion economy is expected to grow 6 percent this year, fueled in part by rising consumer spending among the nation’s 237 million people as well as rising commodity prices, according to estimates from the Washington-based IMF.

The rupiah has surged 41 percent from its 2008 low and is trading at the strongest level versus the dollar since June 2007.

Bloomberg