Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – Dozens of non-governmental organization activists in Malang, East Java, protested Friday's decision to name Samsul Bahri as one of the seven new members of the General Elections Commission and demanded the House of Representatives review the decision.
The rally coordinator, Ziaul Haq from the Malang Corruption Watch, said Samsul Bahri is still a suspect in a corruption case involving the Rp 1.1 billion People's Sugar Industrial Complex project.
Dressed in white, the protesters gathered at the main intersection outside Brawijaya University.
The House of Representatives on Thursday selected seven candidates for the poll body. The names, selected from 20 candidates, are to be submitted to the President for final approval.
The seven are Abdul Hafiz Anshary, Sri Nuryanti, Endang Sulastri, I Gusti Putu Artha, Samsul Bahri, Andi Nurpati and Abdul Azis.
Samsul's status as a graft suspect was verified by Kepanjen Prosecutor Office chief Adam MH Sabtu.
"The case investigation is ongoing... it has not stopped. We are still waiting for the President's letter of approval to examine Malang Regent Sujud Pribadi as a witness in the graft case," Adam told journalists on the sidelines of the Indonesian Military's anniversary celebration in Malang on Friday.
He said Samsul's status as a suspect did not mean the head of Brawijaya University's Student Research institute is guilty. "Unless he is named as a defendant in the case," Adam said.
However, the corruption watch's working body coordinator, Luthfi J. Kurniawan, said it would write to the House to give notification of Samsul's status as a suspect.
"We will also forward documents related to the graft case involving Samsul Bahri. At the time (the graft took place), he was working as the planning and supervision consultant of the project," said Luthfi, adding the documents would be sent to Jakarta on Saturday at the latest.
He hoped the House would reject the poll body's new members who are allegedly involved, or have been named suspects, in graft cases. He said there is still time for the House to hold a plenary session to make such a move.
He said before the House began the testing and selection process for the poll body's new members, the corruption watch had sent files on the alleged corruption case involving the university's professor to the Indonesian Corruption Watch.
"We hoped the files would serve as a source of information for the House... (but) it turned out he (Samsul) was selected despite his status. But there's still time to review the decision," he said.
The Malang Prosecutor's Office named Samsul, along with five other suspects, in the People's Sugar Industrial Complex project corruption case on April 14, 2006.