Ezra Sihite – The arrest of Angelina Sondakh should enable the Corruption Eradication Commission to charge more lawmakers and ministers from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, observers say.
Angelina was named as a suspect and detained based on evidence gathered during the trials of the Democratic Party's former treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, and his employee, Mindo Rosalina Manulang. Other lawmakers and ministers mentioned during the same trials can also be pursued by the anti-graft body, known as KPK.
Nazaruddin and Rosalina were found guilty and sentenced to prison by the Anti-Corruption Court recently for their role in the graft-ridden construction of an athletes' village for the Southeast Asian Games in 2011 in Palembang, South Sumatra.
Nasir Jamil, a lawmaker from House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said the KPK should not be satisfied just with Angelina's arrest because testimony from witnesses in the court suggested that others were involved.
"Furthermore, questioning sessions with Angelina will reveal more evidence," he added. "It's impossible that she did it alone and it will be strange if the case stops with her," he said.
Angelina, the Democratic Party's deputy secretary general, was detained on Friday for allegedly taking bribes in several government procurement projects.
The former beauty queen was arrested after being questioned for more than seven hours at the KPK office in South Jakarta. She is being held in a cell in the building.
The lawmaker was named a graft suspect in February in relation to the SEA Games scandal and for her connection with construction projects at five state universities under the watch of the Education and Culture Ministry.
During her trial, Rosalina accused Angelina of taking billions of rupiah in bribes and claimed that in a BlackBerry text conversation with Angelina, the lawmaker demanded "Washington Apples" and "Malang Apples" for her and some colleagues on the House Budget Committee. The "apples" are believed to be code words for dollars and rupiah, respectively.
Rosalina testified that Angelina said the money would also be channeled to the party's "big boss." Nazaruddin said that the "big boss" was the party's chairman, Anas Urbaningrum.
Nazaruddin claims that Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng also received money from the projects. He also said that Andi and Anas also received fee from the Hambalang project in Bogor. Anas and Andi have denied the allegations.
On scandals in the procurement of teaching aids at several universities, Nazaruddin accused Angelina and Anas of receiving fees from the universities. Several lecturers have been sent to prison in the cases. On Sunday, National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh denied he had any connection with the cases.
"We hope the KPK will not close its eyes to the testimony from witnesses and suspects during the trials," Nasir said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch asked the KPK to use the money-laundering law in cases involving Angelina, to charge those receiving money from the projects. "The use of the money-laundering law will net all people taking bribes from the projects," ICW said in a statement.