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Indonesian
President face police interrogation |
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June 25, 2000
JAKARTA (AP) - Police have questioned Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid over a bizarre and politically damaging scandal in which his masseur is accused of using his name to steal dlrs 4 million from the national food agency. Friday night's interview is believed to be the first time in Indonesian history that a serving head of state has faced police questioning about a criminal matter.
National Police spokesman Col. Saleh Saaf said Wahid gave evidence as a witness in the case at Jakarta's state palace last night.
Police had said earlier they would question him on Monday. "We changed the time to fit in with the president's busy schedule," Saaf said, adding that Wahid had been keen to talk to detectives as soon as possible.
Saaf did not disclose details of Wahid's statement to police. Police had earlier cleared Wahid of direct involvement in the scam against a pension and savings fund operated by Indonesia's food distribution agency, Bulog. Several government officials, including Bulog's deputy chief, have been implicated in the scandal, dubbed "Buloggate."
Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab, a close Wahid associate, earlier this month was forced by local media pressure to deny involvement after one player in the affair linked him to the scandal. Police have said Wahid's masseur, Suwondo, posing as a presidential aide, convinced a senior Bulog official in January that the head of state wanted money transferred to several private bank accounts to fund charity work in Aceh, a province wracked by separatist violence. Like many Indonesians, Suwondo, uses only one name. He is now in hiding, though his wife has returned some of the money. Wahid has publicly denied that he authorized the transfer. He has said that he had considered using Bulog money to help Aceh, but decided instead to obtain funds for the same purpose from the neighboring oil-rich sultanate of Brunei.
This explanation has cause a new set of political problems for Wahid. Opponents have criticized him for accepting money from Brunei without the public's knowledge and without following government accounting procedures.
Wahid came to office eight months ago promising to lead a clean and more democratic government after decades of corrupt authoritarian rule. In
recent weeks his style of leadership has attracted increasing criticism
and there is speculation that some members of the nation's highest
legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, might He
is also struggling to fix the crisis-ridden economy.
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