Robert Go, Jakarta – The detention order issued against tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim of the Gadjah Tunggal Group over longstanding money-swindling charges has raised concerns in the business community that the move is yet another attempt by the administration to prevent their defection to the political opposition.
What has raised eyebrows and set tongues wagging is that the detention has come just months after President Abdurrahman Wahid suspended investigations into Mr Sjamsul and two other tycoons.
President's action then had prompted critics to charge that the administration was "selling" protection to alleged crooks. Several leading businessmen have indicated that they are curious about the move against Mr Sjamsul and others, such as former Economics Minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita. There has been speculation over the administration's political motivation for the slew of arrests.
Mr Abdurrahman – criticised for being soft on corruption and who has himself been accused of involvement in two financial scandals – now wants to show some teeth and has ordered Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman to press ahead with prosecution.
Additionally, some of the tycoons are reported to be backing the President's opponents in Parliament.
And some in business circles here suggest that there are yet other reasons for the move. "In our private conversations, there is speculation that the government is trying to squeeze more pay-off money from the business community. There are also possible political angles," one executive said.
Added a conglomerate owner: "The administration is in political trouble, but perhaps wants to use Sjamsul to remind other businessmen that it is still in power; that it is not out yet." But the sources acknowledged that the government had to investigate corruption cases, including Mr Sjamsul's, if the country were to regain the trust and confidence of potential investors, both domestic and foreign. "If the cases are valid, the government should pursue and jail offenders," another businessman said.
Investigators started questioning Mr Sjamsul last week over what happened to 37 trillion rupiah in bank-bailout money that his former bank, BDNI, received from the state between 1997 and 1999. The authorities have said that he diverted almost 11 trillion rupiah to other businesses within his empire, which includes South-east Asia's biggest tyre manufacturer and the world's largest shrimp farm.
Corruption probes and jail are the only sanctions the government holds over the heads of businessmen who allegedly abused emergency state credits issued during the economic crisis and designed to keep the banks afloat.
The Attorney-General's office moved recently against other businessmen and bankers, including Mr Kaharuddin Ongko and Mr David Nusawijaya, over the liquidity credits issue. But the cases against them are moving slowly and, some analysts say, inconsistently.
Human-rights lawyer Frans Winarta has warned the government against using the judiciary simply as a political or a fund-raising tool.
He said prosecuting corrupt businessmen, some of whom were ethnic Chinese, would not only further the economic recovery, but could also help dispel the perception that all Indonesian Chinese were evil businessmen.
Health: useful excuse
Pleading illness has proven to be a popular method of getting out of, or stalling, arrest.
In the latest example, Nursalim, complained of high blood pressure and chest pains when he was served with a 20-day detention order. The Indonesian authorities have allowed him to be evaluated and treated.
Late last month, former Economics Minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita left the Attorney-General's chambers for hospital shortly after being summoned to answer questions over a graft charge. He managed to stay out for the next eight days and was detained only after investigators consulted a different medical team for a second opinion on his health.
Perhaps the case of Faisal Abdaoe, a former head of state-owned oil company Pertamina, takes the cake. After a few days inside a cell, he complained of a heart condition and is now resting comfortably in his own home.