SBY Tells Ministry To Haul Nunun Back to Indonesia
By Camelia Pasandaran
The Jakarta Globe
June 06, 2011
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the arrest and return of graft suspect Nunun Nurbaeti (pictured), who is now believed to have fled to Cambodia, officials said on Monday.
“The president’s instruction to the foreign minister is clear — to facilitate [Nunun’s return] for the ongoing legal process,” said Teuku Faizasyah, a presidential staffer on foreign relations.
He said the process to bring back Nunun, whose passport was revoked on May 27, was “already ongoing.”
The whereabouts of the businesswoman, suspected of being the go-between in the long-running bribery scandal linked to Miranda Goeltom’s appointment to Bank Indonesia, are unclear.
Her husband, lawmaker Adang Daradjatun of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), earlier claimed his wife was in Singapore seeking treatment for a condition that “makes her forgetful.”
On Monday, though, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said Thai authorities informed him that Nunun had left their country for Phnom Penh in March.
“It was on March 23, but I don’t know where she is now,” Patrialis said, adding that the government received the information on Sunday.
Akbar said the Indonesian Embassy was trying to gather intelligence as to whether she was in Cambodia.
Faizasyah said that although Indonesia and Cambodia did not have an extradition treaty, Nunun’s deportation could be achieved through strong ties between the nations.
He added that the government was working to pinpoint the precise whereabouts of Nunun.
“The mechanism to ascertain this could be through Interpol or through immigration channels,” Faizasyah said.
He said that once Nunun was located, diplomatic and legal efforts would be made to ensure her return.
Golkar Party lawmaker Bambang Susatyo said the government should not only revoke Nunun’s passport. He said there were many Indonesian nationals on the run.
“It would be unfair if passport revocation was only taken against Nunun, and that only the case against her was made public,” Bambang said.
He said there were many corruption suspects and convicted criminals who had fled abroad, and that their passports should also be revoked.
Bambang also demanded that the police, the Attorney General’s Office, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and the Finance Ministry publicly disclose the latest information they had collected on persons on their most wanted lists.
He said all state institutions should have little tolerance for suspects who went overseas to avoid legal trouble.
“If this approach does not yield anything and the fugitives clearly have no intention [of returning], then just revoke their Indonesian passports,” Bambang said.
Additional reporting by Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman
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Graft suspect Nunun, now in Cambodia, eludes KPK hunt
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Tue, 06/07/2011
Nunun Nurbaeti, a graft fugitive her family claimed suffered from “severe forgetfulness”, seems to have kept one step ahead of Indonesia’s anticorruption body.
Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar told reporters on Monday that Nunun was no longer in Thailand as reported earlier by several media outlets.
“According to the immigration office report, she’s not in Thailand anymore but in Phnom Penh [Cambodia],” the minister said, adding that Nunun traveled from Thailand to Cambodia two months before his ministry revoked her passport on the request of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Last month, the commission announced it had named Nunun a suspect in the high-profile bribery case centering on the 2004 election of Miranda S. Goeltom as the central bank’s senior deputy governor by the House of Representatives.
Nunun is accused of distributing traveler’s checks to legislators to buy votes for Miranda. This case has implicated 25 politicians from the country’s major parties, including the Golkar Party — a gadfly in the ruling coalition — and the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Nunun, however, fled to Singapore when the graft scandal arose last year. She ignored the KPK’s subpoena, saying she suffered from acute amnesia and needed medication in the neighboring country.
She was reportedly apprehended by the Thai authorities after failing to show a valid passport when she was about to leave the country last week. The KPK later sent a team to the neighboring country to coordinate her extradition.
The Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok has filed an extradition request to the Thai Foreign Ministry. But the effort was two months late.
Patrialis said Nunun left Thailand for Cambodia on March 21, while her passport was revoked on May 27.
Bambang Irawan, the director general of immigration at the ministry, confirmed Nunun had fled to Phnom Penh. “We received the information from our counterpart in Bangkok early this month that Nunun was recorded to have left for Phnom Penh,” he said.
Bambang said his directorate had cooperated with the related institutions to bring Nunun home to face questioning. But the fact that she is currently in Cambodia has made it more difficult for the law enforcers to extradite her.
Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with Cambodia. The KPK was hoping to nab her in Thailand because Jakarta and Bangkok have signed such a treaty. “We have coordinated with the Foreign Ministry and our representative offices abroad, including in Cambodia,” Bambang said.
“Once we know where she is, we will cooperate with our representative offices and issue a travel permit for her to come home.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene declined to comment further on the development of Nunun’s case. “One thing for sure is that we always cooperate with all government and law enforcement institutions,” he said.
As of Monday, the KPK still did not know where Nunun had been hiding.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the commission had no information on Nunun being in Cambodia. “I learned of this from media reports,” he said. (rcf)
June 06, 2011
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the arrest and return of graft suspect Nunun Nurbaeti (pictured), who is now believed to have fled to Cambodia, officials said on Monday.
“The president’s instruction to the foreign minister is clear — to facilitate [Nunun’s return] for the ongoing legal process,” said Teuku Faizasyah, a presidential staffer on foreign relations.
He said the process to bring back Nunun, whose passport was revoked on May 27, was “already ongoing.”
The whereabouts of the businesswoman, suspected of being the go-between in the long-running bribery scandal linked to Miranda Goeltom’s appointment to Bank Indonesia, are unclear.
Her husband, lawmaker Adang Daradjatun of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), earlier claimed his wife was in Singapore seeking treatment for a condition that “makes her forgetful.”
On Monday, though, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said Thai authorities informed him that Nunun had left their country for Phnom Penh in March.
“It was on March 23, but I don’t know where she is now,” Patrialis said, adding that the government received the information on Sunday.
Akbar said the Indonesian Embassy was trying to gather intelligence as to whether she was in Cambodia.
Faizasyah said that although Indonesia and Cambodia did not have an extradition treaty, Nunun’s deportation could be achieved through strong ties between the nations.
He added that the government was working to pinpoint the precise whereabouts of Nunun.
“The mechanism to ascertain this could be through Interpol or through immigration channels,” Faizasyah said.
He said that once Nunun was located, diplomatic and legal efforts would be made to ensure her return.
Golkar Party lawmaker Bambang Susatyo said the government should not only revoke Nunun’s passport. He said there were many Indonesian nationals on the run.
“It would be unfair if passport revocation was only taken against Nunun, and that only the case against her was made public,” Bambang said.
He said there were many corruption suspects and convicted criminals who had fled abroad, and that their passports should also be revoked.
Bambang also demanded that the police, the Attorney General’s Office, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and the Finance Ministry publicly disclose the latest information they had collected on persons on their most wanted lists.
He said all state institutions should have little tolerance for suspects who went overseas to avoid legal trouble.
“If this approach does not yield anything and the fugitives clearly have no intention [of returning], then just revoke their Indonesian passports,” Bambang said.
Additional reporting by Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman
Join the debate online at thejakartaglobe.com or e-mail yourview@thejakartaglobe.com
------------------------------------------------
Graft suspect Nunun, now in Cambodia, eludes KPK hunt
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Tue, 06/07/2011
Nunun Nurbaeti, a graft fugitive her family claimed suffered from “severe forgetfulness”, seems to have kept one step ahead of Indonesia’s anticorruption body.
Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar told reporters on Monday that Nunun was no longer in Thailand as reported earlier by several media outlets.
“According to the immigration office report, she’s not in Thailand anymore but in Phnom Penh [Cambodia],” the minister said, adding that Nunun traveled from Thailand to Cambodia two months before his ministry revoked her passport on the request of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Last month, the commission announced it had named Nunun a suspect in the high-profile bribery case centering on the 2004 election of Miranda S. Goeltom as the central bank’s senior deputy governor by the House of Representatives.
Nunun is accused of distributing traveler’s checks to legislators to buy votes for Miranda. This case has implicated 25 politicians from the country’s major parties, including the Golkar Party — a gadfly in the ruling coalition — and the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Nunun, however, fled to Singapore when the graft scandal arose last year. She ignored the KPK’s subpoena, saying she suffered from acute amnesia and needed medication in the neighboring country.
She was reportedly apprehended by the Thai authorities after failing to show a valid passport when she was about to leave the country last week. The KPK later sent a team to the neighboring country to coordinate her extradition.
The Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok has filed an extradition request to the Thai Foreign Ministry. But the effort was two months late.
Patrialis said Nunun left Thailand for Cambodia on March 21, while her passport was revoked on May 27.
Bambang Irawan, the director general of immigration at the ministry, confirmed Nunun had fled to Phnom Penh. “We received the information from our counterpart in Bangkok early this month that Nunun was recorded to have left for Phnom Penh,” he said.
Bambang said his directorate had cooperated with the related institutions to bring Nunun home to face questioning. But the fact that she is currently in Cambodia has made it more difficult for the law enforcers to extradite her.
Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with Cambodia. The KPK was hoping to nab her in Thailand because Jakarta and Bangkok have signed such a treaty. “We have coordinated with the Foreign Ministry and our representative offices abroad, including in Cambodia,” Bambang said.
“Once we know where she is, we will cooperate with our representative offices and issue a travel permit for her to come home.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene declined to comment further on the development of Nunun’s case. “One thing for sure is that we always cooperate with all government and law enforcement institutions,” he said.
As of Monday, the KPK still did not know where Nunun had been hiding.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the commission had no information on Nunun being in Cambodia. “I learned of this from media reports,” he said. (rcf)
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