Opposition lawmakers demanded on Monday that Indonesia's Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng be questioned in a graft scandal linked to the Southeast Asian Games.
At a hearing between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, legislator Syarifuddin Sudding said the probe should not stop at ministry secretary Wafid Muharram.
The People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) lawmaker argued that Wafid, who was allegedly caught taking money from Mohammad El Idris, an executive from the private contractor chosen to build the athletes’ village for November’s Games, would not have had the sole authority in selecting the winning tender.
“At least Wafid, as secretary, must have reported all the details involving the athletes’ village project to Andi Mallarangeng as the minister,” he said. “So how come the KPK has never summoned Andi for questioning?”
Golkar Party lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo claimed Andi was actually the one who introduced Wafid to Mindo Rosaline Manullang, the alleged broker in the deal.
“The KPK must explain how they could carry out the investigation without ever touching Andi,” he said.
KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas said there was no evidence tying Andi to the case.
“Investigation are always based on whether there’s a link between someone and the crime,” he said. “If we find that link, we’ll certainly call that person in for questioning.”
Also implicated in the case is Muhammad Nazaruddin, a former Commission III member and, like Andi, a senior member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party.
Rosaline claimed earlier this month that Nazaruddin had accepted Rp 25 billion ($2.9 million) for mediating between the government and the winning contractor, and that Democratic legislator Angelina Sondakh also took a 13 percent cut to provide kickbacks to her colleagues on House Commission X, which oversees sports affairs.
However, Rosaline has since retracted her allegations, claiming she made them under the instruction of her lawyer at the time, Kamaruddin Simanjuntak. She has since taken on a new lawyer.
Kamaruddin said on Monday that he had voice recordings linking Rosaline to Nazaruddin.
“I have a lot of recordings, but nobody has asked for them yet. If these rumors against me continue, I will hand them over to the press,” he said after being questioned by the KPK.
He said he believed Djufri Taufik, Rosaline’s current lawyer, had been appointed by Nazaruddin, whom he referred to as “the force in control of Rosaline.”
He said several witnesses would corroborate his story. “I’d never make the claims if I didn’t have the proof,” he said.
Kamaruddin added that he had been introduced to Rosaline through another former client, businessman Daniel Sinambela, who was himself arrested for embezzlement following a soured coal purchase deal that Nazaruddin allegedly set up last year.
