Yudhoyono Not Amused by Australia Graft Scandal

Come Clean: The president, who has been linked to a case involving the bribery of senior officials to print banknotes in Australia, wants a transparent investigation, despite a gag order by an Australian court

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Erwida Maulia, Jul 31, 2014

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has demanded full transparency into
 an Australian corruption scandal in which his name has come up. An Australian
 court has barred that country’s media from reporting on the case. (Antara Photo/
Andika Wahyu)

Jakarta. Canberra has cleared Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of any involvement in an international corruption scandal implicating two subsidiaries of the Australian central bank, in a case that only came to light following a revelation by Wikileaks about a nationwide gagging order on the Australian media against reporting on the matter.

The so-called super injunction from the Supreme Court of Victoria, dated June 19 and made public by Wikileaks on Tuesday, prevents local media from reporting on corruption allegations related to Note Printing Australia (NPA) and Securency International, two subsidiaries of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The gag order follows the secret June 19 indictment of seven senior executives from NPA and Securency concerning allegations of multi-million dollar inducements made in order to secure contracts for the supply of Australian-style polymer bank notes to the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and other countries, Wikileaks reported.

Yudhoyono, along with his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, and the state enterprise minister during Megawati’s 2001-04 presidency, Laksamana Sukardi, are among 17 individuals listed in the court order, which also mentions the current and former heads of states of Malaysia and Vietnam.

The super injunction says there should be “no disclosure, by publication or otherwise, of any information (whether in electronic or paper form) [...] that reveals, implies, suggests or alleges” the 17 individuals received, witnessed or were intended to receive “a bribe or improper payment.”

It also specifically bans the publication of the order itself as well as an affidavit affirmed last month by Australia’s representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Gillian Bird, who has just been appointed as Australia’s permanent representative to the United Nations.

The document invokes “national security” grounds to prevent reporting about the case, in order to “prevent damage to Australia’s international relations.”

The Australian government on Tuesday acknowledged and defended the existence of the gag order.

“The Australian government obtained suppression orders to prevent publication of information that could suggest the involvement in corruption of specific senior political figures in the region — whether in fact they were or not,” the Australian Embassy in Jakarta said in a statement. “The government considers that the suppression orders remain the best means for protecting the senior political figures from the risk of unwarranted innuendo.”

The embassy also cleared Yudhoyono and Megawati of allegations of improper conduct.

“The naming of such figures in the orders does not imply wrongdoing on their part. The [Australian] government stresses that the Indonesian president and the former president are not the subject of the Securency proceedings,” it said. “We [the Australian government] take the breach of the suppression orders extremely seriously and we are referring it to the police.”

The statement was issued to the Indonesian media shortly after Yudhoyono held a press conference at his home in Cikeas, Bogor, to protest the citing of his name in the super injunction, following a report earlier this week by the Indonesian daily Seputar Indonesia, or Sindo, which cited the Wikileaks report.

“The Wikileaks information which was put out by Sindo has tainted my good image and that of Ibu Mega [Megawati],” Yudhoyono said. “It can also trigger speculation, which might lead to libel. The news issued by Wikileaks and Sindo is something which has caused hurt.”

The president has demanded that Canberra make public any allegations of involvement of Indonesian officials in the case to clear things up. He also said Australia should work with Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in any investigation into the matter.

“I really hope and I want the Australian government and authorities to open and reveal as clearly as is possible the legal [case]. Don’t cover it up. I want this to be crystal clear throughout the country,” Yudhoyono said. “Please reveal, identify and investigate the people [involved]. If someone has been accused of breaking the law, what is the case and what is the violation? And I hope that if someone [in Indonesia] is involved, then they cooperate with the KPK.”

The KPK did not respond to the Jakarta Globe’s inquiries on the matter, but previous media reports dating back to 2010 found the antigraft body had considered launching investigations into the case back then.

A report by Bloomberg News in August last year said Radius Christanto, a Singapore-based Indonesian businessman who played an alleged middleman role in the case, agreed to his extradition to Australia to testify in Australian court proceedings concerning the case.

Radius allegedly helped NPA and Securency channel $1.3 million in bribes to two Bank Indonesia officials to win a project to print 500 million 100,000-rupiah bills from 1999 to 2004. The project was reportedly worth $55.5 million. The polymer notes are no longer in use now.

Yudhoyono said Bank Indonesia did hire the RBA subsidiaries around that period and, allegations aside, was authorized to do so.

“But my point is, that is the authority of BI. So whoever the president was in 1999, or when the banknotes were printed in Australia, they couldn’t be involved in the decision-making process,” he said.

Wikileaks has slammed the “unprecedented” censorship order, calling it “the worst in living memory.” It says the last known blanket suppression order of this nature by the Australian government was granted in 1995 and concerned the joint US-Australian intelligence spying operation against the Chinese Embassy in Canberra.

“With this order, the Australian government is not just gagging the Australian press, it is blindfolding the Australian public,” Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement posted on the group’s website on Tuesday. “Foreign Minister Julie Bishop must explain why she is threatening every Australian with imprisonment in an attempt to cover up an embarrassing corruption scandal involving the Australian government.

“The concept of ‘national security’ is not meant to serve as a blanket phrase to cover up serious corruption allegations involving government officials, in Australia or elsewhere. It is in the public interest for the press to be able to report on this case. Who is brokering our deals, and how are we brokering them as a nation? Corruption investigations and secret gag orders for ‘national security’ reasons are strange bedfellows. It is ironic that it took Tony Abbott to bring the worst of ‘Asian Values’ to Australia.”

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President Very Unhappy About Wikileaks Reports

Antara News, Fri, March 11 2011

"We very much regret the carelessness of The Age and consider it a shameful news scandal, as it published news from a source that cannot be validated"

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President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono. (ANTARA)

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is very unhappy about Wikileaks reports published by Australia`s The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Daniel Sparingga, a special presidential aide said.

"The president is very unhappy with the false news full of lies which were published in the Australian dailies, SHM and The Age, this morning," said Daniel , a special advisor for political communication to the president, said here Friday.

Yudhoyono was seen walking with Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi towards the presidential office on Friday morning. He looked very serious and had no smile on his face.

According to Daniel Sparingga, the two media were irresponsible and only seeking sensation, as the news came from a source whose credibility could not be guaranteed.

"We very much regret the carelessness of The Age and consider it a shameful news scandal, as it published news from a source that cannot be validated," Daniel said.

The two Australian media had It also violated the journalistic code of ethic, he said.

Meanwhile, at a press conference held at the presidential office, here, Friday, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha denied the validity of the news from Wikileaks which accused President Yudhoyono of being involved in corruption and abuse of power.

He said the government was preparing to use its right of reply to the two Australian newspapers, while the foreign affairs ministry would ask for a clarification from the US Ambassador to Indonesia because the Wikileaks` source was diplomatic notes sent by the US embassy to Washington DC.

Pasha said the presidential palace could not find any truth in the news report and it was not based on facts. The Wikileaks source referred to by the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, itself needed to be verified , he added.

Editor: AA Ariwibowo

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"We express our deepest regrets to President Yudhoyono and the Indonesian people."

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Scot Marciel (AFP)

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The US Secretary of State has said the United States deeply regrets the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential, "including private discussions between counterparts or our diplomats personal assessments and observations".

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, passed on her statement to the US ambassador to Indonesia, Scot Marciel, according to a press release from the US Embassy in Jakarta, Friday,

Hillary Clinton also said that the Department of State does not comment on materials, including classified documents, which may have been leaked.

According to the release, the US official foreign policy is not set through these messages, but in Washington.

"Our official foreign policy is not set through these messages, but in Washington. Our policy is a matter of public record, as reflected in our statements and our actions around the world," said Marciel.

Further, Marciel said that any unauthorized disclosure of classified information by Wikileaks has harmful implications for the lives of identified individuals that are jeopardized, but also for global engagement among and between nations.

"Given its potential impact, we condemn such unauthorized disclosures and are taking every step to prevent future security breaches," he said.

"While we cannot speak to the authenticity of any documents provided to the press, we can speak to the diplomatic community`s practice of cable writing. By its very nature, field reporting to Washington is candid and often raw information," he said.

Ambassador Marciel also said that it is preliminary, often incomplete and unsubstantiated. It is not an expression of policy, nor does it always shape final policy decisions. These documents should not be seen as having standing on their own or as representing U.S. policy.

"This type of publication is extremely irresponsible and we express our deepest regrets to President Yudhoyono and the Indonesian people," Marciel said.

As President Obama has noted, the United States is fortunate to have a very strong partner in Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia`s first directly elected president, and a leader who has guided Indonesia through its journey into democracy, he added.

According to Marciel, President Yudhoyono`s leadership has been vital to promoting prosperity, expanding partnerships between the two nations` peoples, and deepening political and security cooperation.

"As the US President Barack Obama said in Jakarta during his visit in November 2010 to jointly launch with President Yudhoyono the Comprehensive Partnership, Indonesia and the United States are bound together by a web of historical, cultural, and economic ties that span the Pacific and by our shared values and aspirations, and our partnership is one of equals, grounded in mutual interests and mutual respect," he stated.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

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TNI Analyzing Wikileaks Reports

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Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s National Defense Forces (TNI) commander, Admiral Agus Suhartono, said his office was analyzing the Wikileaks reports on diplomatic notes from the US embassy in Jakarta regarding President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"We consider the reports as news or information that we need to immediately analyze and verify," Admiral Agus Suhartono said here Friday after receiving an honorary commando brevet from the Kopassus special force.

After completing the analysis, the TNI would take concrete steps regarding the reports quoted by two Australian media, the Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, he said.

"The TNI is analyzing all the published reports," he said.

The admiral denied the reports which accused President Yudhoyono of using the military intelligence agency to spy on his political opponents.

"It`s absolutely not true, there is no such thing," he said.

"TNI`s intelligence agency is used only to support the TNI`s main tasks, and not for political interest of certain any individual, group or organization," he said.

The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald published headlines on President Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono who were allegedly involved in corruption and abuse of power based on the US embassy Jakarta`s diplomatic notes leaked by Wikileaks.

"We will soon ask for a clarification from the US Government through its embassy in Indonesia," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto said earlier on a separate occasion.

He said Foreign Affairs Minister Natalegawa will call the US ambassador to Indonesia regarding the diplomatic cables accusing the president and the first lady of abusing the power as leaked by Wikileaks.

Minister Marty will call the US ambassador in Jakarta to lodge a strong protest against the contents of the diplomatic cables carrying very raw information and its validity was yet to be checked, according to Djoko Suyanto.

Editor: AA Ariwibowo

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