30 Witnesses To Be Presented At The Nurdin Abdullah Trial

Nurdin Abdullah (Instagram/@nurdin_abdullah)

JAKARTA - The Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has prepared 30 witnesses for the alleged bribery and gratification case involving the non-active Governor Nurdin Abdullah at a follow-up trial at the Makassar Corruption Court, South Sulawesi.

"There will be approximately 30 witnesses who will be presented in the follow-up trial," said KPK Public Prosecutor Andry Lesmana to reporters, reported by Antara, Friday, July 30.

The witnesses who will be presented will be related to the case of Nurdin Abdullah, said Andy Lesmana without specifying who the witnesses will be at the follow-up hearing on Thursday 5 August 2021, but some of them are contractors.

Previously, the follow-up trial for the bribery case of defendant Nurdin Abdullah was attended by three witnesses on Thursday, July 29 at the Makassar Corruption Court.

Two witnesses are known to be contractors from Bantaeng Regency, named Setya Budi alias Thiawudy Wikarso alias Thiao and Petrus Salim. One other witness is an employee of Bank Sulselbar named Rezky.

The KPK prosecutor asked the two contractors regarding funding for the construction of a mosque on the plantation land belonging to the defendant NA, in Pucak, Tompobulu Village, Tompobulu District, Maros Regency, South Sulawesi.

For Bank Sulselbar employee Resky, the Public Prosecutor also asked for assistance funds of Rp. 100 million from the two contractors, which Syamsul Bahri deposited as NA's aide to the local bank in September 2020.

The question is, where is the money transferred, whether to the mosque manager or to someone else, because the official owner of the account is not known.

Regarding the examination of witnesses, Syamsul Bahri and the head of the Bank Sulselbar Maros Branch, he said, were scheduled separately. Because the two witnesses are considered to have the capacity to explain the flow of the funds given by the contractor, where will they go.

Andy said the witness plans to testify at a follow-up hearing on Thursday next week. Syamsul Bahri was also presented at the Agung Sucipto trial as a defendant in the bribery case of Nurdin Abdullah in the gratification case for an infrastructure project in South Sulawesi.

"We are trying to develop every witness statement submitted because it is important. What's more, these are the facts of the trial related to the role of the defendant," he said.

The trial was chaired by the Makassar Corruption Court Judge Ibrahim Palino. The two contractor witnesses admitted that they contributed Rp. 100 million for the construction of a mosque on Nurdin Abdullah's land, in the Pucak Botanical Gardens, Maros, South Sulawesi.