Rizky Amelia & Novianti Setuningsih – Antigraft investigators have received a compact disc that allegedly contains evidence former Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng bought votes in his bid to secure the Democratic Party chairmanship during the party's 2010 congress.
The disc was submitted by Firman Wijaya, the attorney representing former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum – a political rival of Andi, also accused by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of accepting bribes.
"We brought several pieces of evidence obtained during our investigation related to a relatively big amount of money spent by one of the candidates and we think that the KPK should investigate it thoroughly," Firman said at the KPK offices on Wednesday.
The KPK has named both Andi and Anas as suspects for receiving kickbacks in the graft-ridden Hambalang sports center case. The KPK has sought to verify claims that Anas used Hambalang project money to buy votes to secure the chairmanship.
"We hope the KPK can be fair about whatever happened during the congress," said Firman, who also stated that Andi had used President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's name to try to win votes by claiming that the president was on his campaign team.
The KPK has already summoned witnesses to gather information related to the congress such as Congress Committee chairman Didik Mukrianto, other PD officials, including deputy secretary general Saan Mustopa, and hotel managers in Bandung, West Java.
The questioning of the hotel managers is believed to be related to allegations that money was handed out by Anas's camp to congress participants in one of the hotels where they were staying. The former PD treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin – jailed in 2012 for accepting bribes – has said that the Aston Hotel was the location where $5 million and Rp 35 billion ($3.4 million) was allegedly dropped off and distributed.
The KPK scheduled Anas for questioning as a suspect in the Hambalang case for the first time on Wednesday but he did not show up. Firman said Anas was unable to heed the summons but declined to elaborate on the reason.
He said he had asked the KPK to reschedule the questioning for his client after Idul Fitri and made an assurance that Anas would attend next time, but also questioned whether the KPK would take the opportunity to detain Anas when he showed up.
"The KPK has had ample time to detain all the suspects, so go ahead," he said, but added that there was no requirement for the agency to detain Anas as long as he was cooperative. Firman said he would demand an explanation from the investigators as to what the real charges against his client were, if he was detained.
"We want a fair process. The team of attorneys is still wondering until today what violations Anas had committed."
The antigraft probe into the allegations levied against Anas has only scratched the surface of the Hambalang sports center case, KPK chief Abraham Samad said recently.
"There are many more allegations," Samad said. "But we can't list them in detail yet because we're still investigating."
Meanwhile, Andi has been charged with irregularities in the administration of funding for the center, whose budget ballooned from Rp 300 million under the previous minister to Rp 2.5 trillion under Andi.