Indonesia indicted an election commission official on Thursday, the first in a series of graft trials of members of the body that is seen as signalling the new president's commitment to tackling rampant corruption. The high-profile case has caught public attention as the commission was widely praised for organising last year's first direct presidential election in which an ex-general swept to power on a strong anti-corruption message.
Since taking office in October, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has energised the anti-corruption commission (KPK), which can make arrests, and its partner, the special corruption court, which was established to fast-track sensitive graft cases.
In Thursday's opening trial, the prosecution accused Mulyana Kusumah, a prominent academic, of attempting to give an auditor 300 million rupiah ($31,280) to overlook irregularities in the finances of the election commission (KPU) in the 2004 polls.
State prosecutor Suwarji told the special corruption court that Kusumah persuaded the auditor to "erase findings indicating discrepancies in the supplying of ballot boxes, or at least to ensure the investigative report on the procurement ... would be free from things that could lead to graft accusations".
He said Kusumah was caught in April when he met the auditor, whom investigators had wired with a recorder, in a Jakarta hotel.
Kusumah, a trained criminologist, argued he was forced into a trap.
His arrest has triggered a sweeping investigation into the KPU, which officials say has found indications of kickbacks and abuses of power in the procurement of balloting materials.
Four other officials, including the KPU chief, have been named as suspects, while other commissioners and a former member, Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin, have been questioned.
But some analysts say they will not be convinced Yudhoyono means business until major political players do jail time.
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