The tahi is realy hitting the fan..,
The Jakarta Globe, November 2, 2013.
Kupang. Residents of the Southwest Sumba district of East Nusa Tenggara reported Akil Mochtar to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Thursday and the Constitutional Court’s Ethics Council on Friday over another election dispute, adding to the ever-widening graft case surrounding the court’s former chief.
“[The report] is related to an alleged instance of bribery involving Akil and his fellow justice while they handled the Southwest Sumba [district] election dispute some time ago,” Kornelis Kode Mete, the incumbent district head of Southwest Sumba who ran in the election, told Suara Pembaruan on Saturday.
On Aug. 10, the Southwest Sumba Elections Commission (KPU) declared that Markus Dairo Talu and his running mate Ndara Tanggu Kaha had triumphed over Kornelis and Daud Lende Umbu Moto for the district’s top two posts. On Aug. 14, Kornelis challenged the result and filed a report with the Constitutional Court, claiming that the election was tainted by vote rigging.
Kornelis presented all 144 ballot boxes to the court as evidence, but the court ignored his testimony.
“Akil and his fellow justices refused to examine the ballot boxes on the grounds that the schedule to check them had already passed,” Petrus Salestinus, the head of the Indonesian Democracy Defenders Team (TPDI), said on Saturday.
Petrus said that his organization and residents of the district were suspicious because Akil had initially asked for the ballot boxes as evidence.
“The TPDI alleged that Akil Mochtar did not decide [the election] for free,” Petrus said. “There are indications of bribery. So, we reported Akil and other related parties to the KPK.”
On Aug. 29, the Constitutional Court upheld the decision of the local KPU and said that Markus was the winner of the election.
After the court ruling, Kornelis decided to bring the case to the West Sumba Police. The police recounted the ballots and found that there was indeed evidence of vote rigging in the election.
On Sept. 26, the local KPU conducted a recount and admitted that they had made an error. They announced later that Kornelis and Daud garnered 50.38 percent of the total vote and were therefore the true winners of the election. Markus and Ndara finished with 42.78 percent of the vote.
Since the KPU and the Constitutional Court came to different conclusions about the election, Frans Lebu Raya, the Governor of East Nusa Tenggara, said that he would not inaugurate a district head until the dispute was clarified.
“We still have time until December [the month of the inauguration], so we will coordinate with the General Elections Commission, the East Nusa Tenggara Election Commission and other related parties first,” Frans said in October as quoted Tribunnews.com.
“The Constitutional Court ruling is final and binding — it’s undeniable. But since new facts have arisen, we will coordinate with other parties so the [district chief] position will be well accepted by the majority.”
Akil was arrested by the KPK in October for suspected bribery in two election disputes under review by the Constitutional Court. He allegedly received Rp 3 billion ($264,000) in relation to Central Kalimantan’s Gunung Mas district election disputes and Rp 1 billion related to Banten’s Lebak election disputes.
The commission is also looking into the possibility that Akil received bribes related to the Palembang mayoral election and the Empat Lawang district election.
On Friday, the Constitutional Court Ethics Council decided to dishonorably discharged Akil from his position as court chief, weeks after Akil submitted his resignation letter.
*( running outof Jail-space very soon!)
za 2 nov 2013 - 21:38