Two Men Arrested Not M'sian Govt Officers Or Advisers

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA (Indonesia), June 15 (Bernama) -- The two Malaysian men arrested by Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) yesterday for suspected of helping wanted corruption case suspect Neneng Sri Wahyuni avoid arrest since last year, are not government officers or advisers to the Malaysian government as widely reported by the media here. Malaysia's ambassador to Indonesia, Syed Munshe Afdzaruddin Syed Hassan said this fact was conveyed by KPK chief Abraham Samad during his meeting with him at the KPK office Thursday night. "He strongly refuted that the two arrested Malaysians are officers or advisers to the Malaysian governmentm," he told Bernama after the meeting. The ambassador said the KPK chief's statement was important to clarify to all that the Malaysian government was not involved and in fact, had nothing to do at all with the graft case being investigated by KPK. At a news conference last night, a KPK official claimed that one of the two arrested Malaysian men was an adviser or important person in the Malaysian government. Today, KPK confirmed the two men as suspects and were charged under Section 21 of the Corruption Criminal Law of Indonesia, called Tipikor in short, for obstructing investigations on the corruption case. This was based on two strong proofs, but Abraham did not give details. Syed Munshe Afdzaruddin who thanked Abraham for willing to meet him on Thursday night despite the short notice, also expressed appreciation for KPK for providing the information needed by the embassy on the two Malaysian men. Abraham assured the embassy of counsellor access in order to give protection to the two men, in line with the Vienna Convention while Malaysia respects the legal process and regulations in Indonesia. On Wednesday, one of the two men was arrested at a hotel and the other while on his way to the prison where Neneng's husband is incarcerated. The fugitive Neneng was arrested at her house in Pejaten, South Jakarta upon arriving in a taxi from the Soekarno Hatta International Airport, here. KPK deputy chief, Bambang Widjojanto at a news conference on Wednesday night said before the arrests were made, KPK had received information that Neneng would be departing from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night and would spend the night in Batam, Indonesia before flying to Jakarta. In August last year, Muhammad Nazaruddin, a former treasurer of the Democratic Party, was arrested in Colombia and brought back here on graft charges. The couple was alleged to be involved in a multi million dollar corruption scandal related to the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry's 2008 solar power plant project. Based on investigations by the Indonesian police, Nazaruddin was believed to have fled to Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Colombia. His wife Neneng is believed to have left her children in Kuala Lumpur and often accompanied her husband moving from one country to another. -- BERNAMA