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Energy minister Jero Wacik named corruption suspect
Jakarta Globe - September 3, 2014
"Today we are announcing that a letter to start the investigation [has been issued] on Sept. 2, 2014. The status of the case will be upgraded and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources official J.W. will be named a suspect," Zulkarnaen, deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Bambang Widjojanto, another KPK deputy chairman, said the antigraft agency would request a travel ban to prevent Jero from leaving the country. "Regarding a travel ban, a request will be sent [to the Immigration Department] immediately after the announcement of the suspect's status," Bambang said.
He said Jero had committed extortion between 2011 and 2012, in order to increase his ministerial operational fund and raised nearly Rp 10 billion ($850,000) from the extortion. "The amount is around Rp 9.9 billion," Bambang said.
He said Jero asked his staff to increase his operational budget by getting money from kickbacks. "For instance, he conducted fictitious meetings to generate money, which could be considered abuse of power," Bambang said.
Karen Agustiawan, the former president director of state oil company Pertamina, is said to be one of Jero's extortion victims. However, Bambang declined to clarify this allegation, apart from saying Karen's departure could be related to Jero's case.
"We are not in the position to answer that question right now. The three things that I mentioned [modus of extortion] do not lead to that name. However, that doesn't mean that there's no connection," he said. Bambang said the KPK would reveal any connection to Karen in Jero's indictment.
In response to the charges
against him, Jero has reportedly decided to step down from his ministerial
post. Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry secretary general Teguh Santoso
said Jero went to his office on Wednesday morning and again later in the
afternoon to give guidance to his staff after he was declared a suspect.
"[Jero] said he was going
to prepare his resignation letter soon," Teguh said as quoted by news portal
Kompas.com on Wednesday. He added that the ministry would hold a meeting
to discuss the matter of Jero's temporary replacement.
Democrats' reactions
Marzuki Alie, the deputy chairman of the Democratic Party's advisory board, said Jero should also resign from the party. "That is stated under the integrity pact," Marzuki said on Wednesday, referring to an agreement signed by each member of the Democratic Party.
The pact Jero signed when he became minister states that he would not commit corruption, bribery and any other serious violations, and that he would resign from his position in the party if he violated the terms of the agreement.
Jero has been elected as a new legislative member in the April election and he will be inaugurated next month.
Ferry Kurnia Rizkiansyah, a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU), said Jero could still serve as a lawmaker regardless of the charges against him. Ferry said that under the election law, the KPU can only revoke his position as a lawmaker after a court verdict.
One of the most senior officials in the Democratic Party said the party would cease to back Jero only if he were found guilty of the corruption charges.
The chairman of the party's board, Pieter Zulkifli, said the party would be guided by the presumption of innocence and that Jero was entitled to the benefit of the doubt until his guilt or innocence was established.
"Regarding Jero Wacik, we must respect the presumption of innocence," Pieter said on Wednesday. "We cannot be judgmental or assassinate the character of someone who has yet to be proven guilty."
Pieter emphasized that his party fully supports the KPK in its investigation. "We support the KPK to keep working to serve the people so all officials in the country will be clean," he said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also Democratic Party chairman, previously stated that he supported the KPK investigation.
Benny Harman, another senior party member and erstwhile head of the House of Representatives' legal affairs oversight commission, said the party would not intervene in the investigation – but called on the KPK to ensure that it had sufficient evidence to substantiate its claims.
"The KPK has to prove its allegations, and so does Jero Wacik. He has to prepare his own evidence and defense to refute the allegations. Then, let the legal process run its course, not politics, to enforce the law and uphold justice," he said. "We really hope the KPK will use the law, not politics, in doing its job."
Graft in the oil sector
The KPK investigation of the government's upstream oil and gas regulator, SKKMigas, is on the verge of being completed.
The probe against Jero's followed the August 2013 arrest of Rudi Rubiandini, then-chief of SKKMigas, on charges of taking bribes from Singapore-based Kernel Oil, an energy trader, to award it a lucrative tender to sell oil.
Jero's number two, secretary general Waryono Karno, was arrested after $200,000 in cash was found in his office.
In his trial, Rudi also implicated Sutan Bhatoegana, a Democratic Party legislator, for demanding kickbacks from SKKMigas tenders.
Rudi was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison earlier this year. Kernel Oil executive Simon Gunawan Tanjaya was sentenced to three years in jail last December. Waryono and Sutan have both been charged but have yet to stand trial.
Jero is only the third serving minister in the country's history to be charged with corruption. The two others, former sports minister Andi Mallarangeng – a member of the Democratic Party – and the former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali, also served in President Yudhoyono's cabinet.
Jero is also the latest Democratic Party official embroiled in a corruption scandal. Several top officials from the party have either been jailed or are currently standing or awaiting trial in a range of graft cases. If convicted, Jero can face up to 20 years in prison and a Rp 1 billion fine.
Indonesia has a mixed if not capricious recent record in bringing corruption suspects to justice. Akil Mochtar, the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court, was handed an unprecedented life sentence earlier this year for accepting bribes to rig local election disputes, while the woman behind the bribe – Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah – was given just four years earlier this week.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/energy-minister-jero-wacik-named-corruption-suspect/.
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