As if to mock the fruitless efforts to bring former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin to justice, an NGO is offering a Rp 100 million (US$11,700) bounty for anyone who can locate and catch the graft suspect.
The People's Information Center (LIRA) will put up posters to announce the reward and will distribute them to all provinces. "Inform and catch fugitive corruptor. 100 Million Rupiah Prize for Nazaruddin. Call: 021-70809494" a poster reads. The reward will also be published in print and online media.
LIRA president Jusuf Rizal said Thursday that the reward was meant to encourage the public to find Nazaruddin, who fled to Singapore on May 23 and has since ignored summonses from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
The KPK later named him a graft suspect on June 30 for allegedly receiving fees for arranging the winning tender for construction company PT Duta Graha Indah to work on a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games construction project. He is alleged to have sought 13 percent of the Rp 191 billion (US$22 million) project cost.
On July 5, Singapore's foreign ministry said Nazaruddin had left Singapore and that this information was conveyed to Indonesian authorities "weeks ago", long before he was named a suspect by the KPK.
The ministry said it had no knowledge of Nazaruddin's current whereabouts, adding "we do not track people after they leave Singapore".
Leaked intelligence obtained by The Jakarta Post showed Nazaruddin left Singapore for Malaysia and Vietnam. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has refused to comment on this.
Rizal said that LIRA did not intend to undermine law enforcement officers through the reward. "We want to help the government, the KPK, and the National Police find the fugitive," he said.
LIRA is run by the same people who helped establish the Blora Center, the campaign center for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's 2004 presidential bid. "LIRA will increase the reward if Nazaruddin cannot be found," Rizal said at a press conference Thursday.
Nazaruddin's case has shaken the Democratic Party and the government as other party executives and top officials are also implicated in the graft scandal.
An indictment read by KPK prosecutors in the trial of former PT DGI marketing manager El Idris on Wednesday stated that he alleged that two other Democratic Party officials received bribes in the case: Angelina Sondakh and Mirwan Amir. He also confessed to agreeing to a disbursement of 2 percent of the value of the project to Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Wafid Muharram, 2.5 percent to the development committee, 0.5 percent to the South Sumatra procurement committee and 2.5 percent to South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin.
The governor on Thursday denied any knowledge of the illegal payouts. On Thursday, Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said the government was struggling with the minimal assistance it received from authorities abroad in pursuing Nazaruddin.
"Due to reasons of privacy, not every country wants to share its data on people entering their country. However, we should respect their decision," Patrialis said Thursday.
He cited Hong Kong as one of the places that refused to share data citing privacy reasons. "We have asked many parties to help us handle this situation. I am still optimistic we will succeed eventually," he said.