Alex Noerdin And Jimly Asshiddiqie Examined By The Prosecutor's Office For Corruption Of The Sriwijaya Mosque

JAKARTA - The former governor of South Sumatra, Alex Noerdin, is being questioned regarding the alleged corruption case of the Sriwijaya Grand Mosque grant at the Attorney General's Office, Jakarta, Thursday, July 29.

He was examined together with the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Jimly Asshiddiqie, by a team of investigators from the South Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office.

The Daily Executive Head of the Legal Information Section of the South Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office, Chandra said, the two were examined as witnesses for the completeness of the case files for the defendants Ahmad Nasuhi and Mukti Sulaiman.

"They were examined as witnesses by a team of investigators from the South Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office who went there", he said in Palembang, as reported by Antara.

The examination took place from 9.00 WIB to 15.00 WIB and the investigation team asked 56 questions for Noerdin and 16 questions for Asshiddiqie.

"Witness Alex was examined as the former governor and witness Jimly was questioned as an advisor to the Sriwijaya Grand Mosque Foundation", he said.

According to him, from the examination, the investigation team has not been able to confirm whether there are names of new suspects in the alleged corruption case of grant funds for the construction of the largest prototype mosque in Southeast Asia.

"It has not been confirmed yet, the investigation team is still in Jakarta to conduct the investigation", he said.

The South Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office has named four suspects and the case files have been transferred to the Palembang District Court, namely, Eddy Hermanto, Syarifuddin, Yudi Arminto, and Dwi Kridayani.

The four suspects will go on trial on Tuesday, July 27, led by five judges for corruption at the Palembang District Court.

The Public Prosecutor of the South Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office revealed that a total of IDR 2.6 billion in funds were allegedly given to Noerdin's operations from a grant for the construction of the Great Mosque of Sriwijaya in Palembang.

This was recorded in the indictment read before four defendants of corruption (Eddy Hermanto, Syarifuddin, Yudi Arminto, and Dwi Kridayani) at the trial reading of the indictment led by the judge Sahlan Effendy in the Palembang District Court courtroom, Tuesday.

Head of the Special Criminal Prosecution Section of the South Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office, M Naimullah, in Palembang, Wednesday, said it was suspected that there were funds given to Noerdin worth IDR2,343,000,000 and helicopter rental fees of IDR 300,000,000, totaling IDR2,643,000,000.

"The description of the indictment is based on the facts found by the investigative team in the field who are carrying out their duties according to the SOP, in the next trial witnesses will be presented", he said.

However, Noerdin's involvement will later be proven in court by presenting several witnesses. "In the trial later we will present witnesses for this allegation", he said.

According to the indictment, the funds were traced to operational funds for the construction of the Sriwijaya Grand Mosque in 2015 worth IDR 50,000,000,000 which was handed over by Arminto (project manager of PT Brantas Abipraya) and PT Kodya Karya through the Head of the Committee for the Auction Division for the Construction of the Sriwijaya Mosque, Syarifuddin.

In the transaction, the two defendants also received the flow of grant funds, Arminto worth IDR2,368,553,390, Syarifudin worth IDR1,049,336,610, and PT Brantas Adibpraya (Persero) worth Rp5,000,000,000.

"The indication of receiving and giving several funds in the first term in the construction of the Sriwijaya Grand Mosque in 2015 is evidence that there is an arrangement for the auction process to be won by one of the private parties and the government", he said.