Jakarta – Police have questioned six Cabinet Secretariat staff members in connection with Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi's controversial letters recommending a company for an embassy renovation project.
Police intelligence officers also went to the Foreign Ministry on Friday to obtain the original copies of the two letters that Sudi sent last year.
In the letters, Sudi asked Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda to attend a presentation by PT Sun Hoo Engineering on a planned renovation project for the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul. PT Sun Hoo does not exist as a legal entity in Indonesia.
Sudi now claims the letters were altered by his staff after he signed them. National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam refused to identify the six state secretariat employees but he said they knew about the correspondence.
Anton said Sudi recognized his signature on the letters but denied the content. "Pak Sudi acknowledged the signature was his but maintained that the content was not the same as the letter he read and signed," Anton said.
The investigation follows Sudi's report to the police that the content of the letter had been altered by his staff to make the letter read as if he was recommending PT Sun Hoo for a job – a serious abuse of his authority as state secretary.
Sudi, a confidante of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has alleged that the controversy surrounding the letters is politically motivated and aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the Yudhoyono administration, which has been campaigning to combat corruption.
In the letter dated Feb. 21, 2005, Sudi appears to have written, "Mr. President asked that you (Minister Hassan) kindly accept the presentation of PT Sun Hoo Engineering management and dully follow it up."
In a hearing with the House of Representatives on Thursday, a legislator from the National Mandate Party, Andi Yulandi Paris, confronted Sudi with another memo he had written to Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban. In that letter Sudi had appealed to Kaban to help a timber company belonging to a well-connected businesswoman, Hartati Murdaya, which was in danger of losing a concession. Sudi said he "couldn't remember" issuing the letter.
Anton said the police had also coordinated with the foreign ministry to cross-check information about the letters.
The foreign ministry has said it never had any intention of renovating the embassy in Seoul.
Antara reported that police investigators met Friday with Foreign Ministry administrative bureau chief and spokesman Desra Percaya. Desra said that the officers asked for the letters that Sudi had sent to the ministry and other related documents.