Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Novianti Setuningsi – A man said to be a close aide to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been implicated in the beef quota corruption case, suggesting the political impact of the scandal may extend to his Democratic Party.
At the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Friday, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) presented as evidence a secretly recorded conversation between Ridwan Hakim, a witness, and Ahmad Fathanah, the defendant in the case who was previously an aide to Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq.
In the recording, Fathanah tells Ridwan that a man named Sengman had delivered Rp 40 billion ($3.7 million) to another man, referred to as "Engkong," at a PKS function in Lembang, West Java. He also says that the money, payment for a beef import quota, was prepared by Maria Elizabeth Liman, president director of agricultural products company Indoguna Utama.
Under questioning by Chief Justice Nawawi Pomolango, Ridwan said the Engkong referred to was his father, Hilmi Aminuddin, chief advisor for the PKS. The judge then asked about the man who was said to have delivered the bribe money, Sengman.
"There's a name, Sengman. Who is that?," Justice Nawawi asked. Ridwan replied: "As I have explained to the KPK, as far as I know Bapak Sengman is the president's courier when dealing with the PKS."
"Whose president?" the judge asked. "Our president, Pak SBY. In the record of my interview with the KPK it is noted that he is someone close to the president," Ridwan said.
As media on Friday scrambled to corroborate the alleged connection between Yudhoyono and Sengman, Republika newspaper reported finding an old wedding announcement published on the website of the Jakarta Police in which the president and his wife were reported to be due to attend the wedding of Sengman Tjahja's daughter in 2008. But on Friday evening the police website was offline so this could not be confirmed.
Friday was the second time that people apparently close to the president had been mentioned in the case. The first person mentioned was Wisnu Agung Prasetya, assistant to Andi Arief, the president's advisor on disaster management. Wisnu was said to be a close friend of Yudi Setiawan, who allegedly gave money to PKS's Luthfi. Luthfi is also on trial in the same case.
Democratic Party members rushed to Yudhoyono's defense after Friday's courtroom revelations, denying the president had any connection with Sengman.
"That's a lie. He could have just dropped names. That's a lie," Marzuki Ali, Democratic Party member and speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Friday.
But Marzuki admitted that he knew Sengman and that they had met in Palembang, South Sumatra, in 2009.
I Gde Pasek, chairman of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, portrayed Ridwan's testimony as the desperate claims of a cornered man. "It wasn't backed up by any evidence. So, it was just an effort to drag in people that have no connection [to the case]," Pasek said in Jakarta on Friday.
Pasek called on KPK investigators not to believe Ridwan's testimony. "The KPK already knows which [information] it should process further," Pasek said.
Democratic Party deputy chairman Jhonny Allen Marbun also denied there was any relationship between Sengman and Yudhoyono. "He [Ridwan] said Sengman was a close aide, but the [bribe] money was not given to the president. That was just a statement," Jhonny said. "SBY doesn't know who Sengman is. So, why does he have to account for him?"
Aside from mentioning Sengman, Ridwan also said he had a mentor, a businesswoman whom he called Bunda (mother) Putri.
Conversations recorded by the KPK between Ridwan, Luthfi and Putri give the impression that Putri held considerable sway over senior PKS figures. In one recorded conversation, Putri talked to Luthfi about a cabinet reshuffle and how she could influence decision makers.