Indonesian speaker goes missing
> Setya evades bid to arrest him as suspect in huge graft case
JAKARTA: The speaker of Indonesia’s parliament has evaded an attempt by the anti-corruption commission to arrest him as a suspect in a huge graft case, a commission spokesman said yesterday.
The commission, known as KPK, has accused House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto of corruption in a 5.9 trillion rupiah (RM1.8 billion) project to make electronic ID cards during the previous government.
Investigators came to Setya’s house late on Wednesday with an arrest warrant but he was nowhere to be found, KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said.
“We’re still looking for him, but we don’t know where he is.”
Setya’s lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, said his wife did not know where he was.
“The family is very worried but there’s nothing we can do,” he said.
Losses to the state as a result of corruption in the project are estimated at 2.3 trillion rupiah (RM718 million), according to the commission.
Setya is also the chairman of the Golkar Party, a member of the ruling coalition, and an ally of President Joko Widodo.
KPK first named Setya a suspect in the case in August but a court ruled there was insufficient initial evidence to justify the step in a pretrial decision.
Last week, the commission again formally named him a suspect.
A wealthy businessman himself, Setya met US President Donald Trump in September 2015, while the latter was campaigning for the presidency, to discuss investment in Indonesia.
After Trump came to power, Joko tasked Setya with establishing a rapport with the new US administration.
Setya has denied any wrongdoing.
Two officials at the home affairs ministry have been sentenced to seven and five years in prison in the case, while a businessman is also on trial.
More than 30 members of parliament from the 2004 to 2009 period, plus a former home affairs minister, have been implicated in the case.
In April, a top KPK investigator investigating the case, Novel Baswedan, had acid thrown in his face by two attackers.
He is still being treated in a Singapore hospital.
Nobody has yet been arrested for the crime. – dpa