Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – An education official testified Tuesday that he had asked the family of slain journalist Anak Agung Bagus Narendra Prabangsa to pull a story over which the latter was believed to have been murdered.

Bangli Education Office head Anak Agung Ngurah Samba was testifying in the trial of Nyoman Susrama, the younger brother of the Bangli regent and a serving regency legislator, who is charged with murdering Radar Bali editor Prabangsa.

Samba said he had asked the latter's family to stop the publication of reports of discrepancies in a school construction project, adding he was unaware Prabangsa had been killed.

Prabangsa had been reporting on irregularities in a project to build an international-standard kindergarten and elementary school in Bangli regency, which fell under the auspices of Samba's office.

In his testimony, Samba read out news reports of the discrepancies in the project monitoring and supervising permit. "I found some problems with the permit so I promptly ordered my people to revise it," he said.

Susrama was awarded the Rp 3 billion (US$320,000) project by Bangli Regent Nengah Arnawa, without going through the required bidding process. Samba said the practice was common, decided upon by the local authorities, including the regent.

"The funding was raised privately, so the awarding of the contract was decided at a local level, without public notification," Samba said.

Judge A. Simanjuntak expressed surprise that Samba thought such a procedure was acceptable. "This was very irregular," he said. "Any large-scale project must be tendered in an open and transparent bidding process."

The construction of the schools began in 2006, and was scheduled for completion in 2010.

Susrama and eight other suspects have been charged with torturing and murdering Prabangsa in February 2009. The former could face death if found guilty. Police concluded the journalist had been tortured and killed in Susrama's backyard in Bangli before being dumped into the sea. His body was found days later.

Samba and Susrama were supposed to have submitted a financial report on the project in 2008. "We haven't done it yet," Samba said. "All the funding for the project has been handed out, but the project's nowhere near finished. "It's only half done."