SP/Novianti Setuningsih – Minister of Agriculture Suswono, a member of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), has admitted to previous meetings with beef import graft suspect Ahmad Fathanah after a prosecutor displayed a photo of them together.

When Suswono testified at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court, he initially said that he had only met Fathanah during a discussion between the PKS and beef import company head Maria Elizabeth.

"There were Luthfi, [Maria] Elizabeth, Suwarso and Fathanah, who I did not know before, and myself," Suswono testified at the court on Friday. He was referring to former PKS president Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq and Suwarso, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture.

The prosecutor then projected a photo of Suswono and Fathanah on a big screen. The minister was speechless for some time before responding: "I don't remember."

Several other photos of Suswono and Fathanah posing with other people were subsequently displayed during the questioning. "I forget who they are, but they're Makassar people," Suswono said.

Suswono then said that he remembered meeting Fathanah more than two times in Medan, Takalar district, South Sulawesi, and Makassar.

"I just remembered, that was at the Makassar mayor's house and we're having breakfast there. That time, [I] was invited by the mayor," he said, referring to one of the photos. Suswono still insisted that he did not really know Fathanah.

Fathanah is a close aide of the ex-chief of PKS Luthfi, both of whom are accused of money laundering related to beef import graft case. Fathanah was caught after receiving money from beef importer company Indoguna Utama to secure an additional 8,000 tons beef import quota for Indoguna.

The meeting in Medan was allegedly where the additional quota was negotiated. Indoguna agreed to pay Fathanah Rp 5,000 per kilogram of additional quota.

Suswono told the judges that Luthfi requested that he meet Indoguna president Maria at Arya Duta Hotel in Medan, North Sumatra, on Jan. 11, but said the meeting was not related to beef imports.

Beside the meetings in Makassar and Medan, another witness Elda Devianne, who was allegedly the middleman in the case, claimed that there was a meeting in Lembang, Bandung, in which Suswono agreed to give additional import quota for Indoguna on a condition that Maria would donate for the party. Suswono denied the claim, saying that there was no such meeting.