KPK not to forbid Sri Mulyani from leaving RI

Antara News, Thursday, May 6, 2010 18:19 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will not prevent outgoing Finance Minister Sri Mulyani from leaving Indonesia for the United States, a KPK deputy chairman said.

Therefore, the KPK would not request the immigration directorate general of the law and human rights ministry to impose an overseas travel ban on her, KPK vice chairman Bibit Samad Rianto told reporters here Thursday.

"We do not need to prevent her from leaving the country," he said commenting on Sri Mulyani`s resignation as finance minister to take the position of managing director at the World Bank in Washington DC starting June 1.

An overseas travel ban on Sri Mulyani was not needed because with her new and respected position, she was believed not to do things that would damage her credibility, he said.

Rianto further said the circumstances of Sri Mulyani`s intention to go abroad were also clear enough to the commission.

In connection with the KPK investigation into the Bank Century bailout scandal, KPK investigators had so far quizzed Sri Mulyani twice, namely on April 29 and May 4, 2010.

She was questioned about the troubled bank bailout case in her capacity as the former head of the now-defunct Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK).

In the May 4 questioning session, Sri Mulyani explained about her duties and authority as the former head of KSSK to the anti-corruption commission investigators.

Rianto said Sri Mulyani`s new position would not disrupt the KPK probe into the Bank Century case.

"She remains on earth. We can still find her," he said, adding that the KPK investigators had ever quizzed an Indonesian citizen in Washington DC in the past.

Sri Mulyani announced her resignation on Wednesday or a day after the KPK quizzed her over the Bank Century scandal.

On Tuesday, she said the KPK questioning was expected to pave the way for her to get legal certainty.

Sri Mulyani and former central bank governor who is now Vice President, Boediono, were among those named by several party factions in the House`s Bank Century Inquiry Committee as responsible for the Bank Century scandal.

The central government`s decision to rescue failed Bank Century with a total of Rp6.7 trillion in bailout funds had also triggered protests from various elements in the society.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono maintained Sri Mulyani in his cabinet despite public pressure for her dismissal from the cabinet.

But regarding her decision to leave the cabinet for her new position at the World Bank, President Yudhoyono agreed on it.