Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – Rights watchdogs say that the Indonesian government used a broker to buy Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia, despite claims to the contrary from the Russian Embassy in Jakarta.
Several NGOs have alleged that there were irregularities in the purchase of the jets, including the unauthorized involvement of a third party, which were not allowed in government-to-government contracts.
The organizations, which included Imparsial, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), the Institute for Defense and Peace Studies (IDSPS) and the People's Advocacy and Policy Research Institute (Elsam), also alleged that there were price mark-ups in the sale.
Al Araf of human rights watchdog Imparsial claimed that he had official documents stating that a company, PT Trimarga Rekatama, brokered the deal. "Air Force chief [Marshall Imam Suffaat] stated that there was a third party in the contract. So the government should stop denying the fact," Al Araf said on Wednesday.
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Jakarta said that the purchase of the jets did not involve a third party.
"The contract drafting and signing process was carried out by the authorized representatives of Indonesia's Ministry of Defense and the Rosoboronexport, the embassy said in a press statement.
"Any information that some 'third side' took part in drafting the contract, and increasing the price of the jets, is not true," the statement continued.
The Defense Ministry signed a contract to purchase the fighters with JSC Rosoboronexport, Russia's state-owned company that has been authorized as the sole source for Russian-made weapon systems, on Dec. 29. According to the US$470 million contract, the first two jets ordered would arrive in Indonesia in 2012, three others in 2013 and a final jet in 2014.
Imam said that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had nothing to do with PT Trimarga Rekatama and has only been dealing with Rosoboronexport. Imam, however, did not deny the fact that PT Trimarga helped Rosoboronexport with its paperwork.
"Rosoboron has appointed Trimarga to help it in the customs office, exposure, and presentations," he said as quoted by Tempo weekly.
Mufti Makarim, the executive director of IDSPS, said House Commission I overseeing defense making probing the procurement a priority, "given the fact that Rp 150 trillion [$16.35 billion] of state funds are at stake".