Ex-Sports Minister Andi Requests E-Books, Laptop for Jail Cell
Former sports minister Andi Alfian Mallarangeng attends a hearing at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on March 17, 2014. Andi is standing trial for his alleged roles in the Hambalang sports center corruption case. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)
Jakarta. Former Youth and Sports Minister Andi Alfian Mallarangeng asked judges to allow him to have e-books and a laptop in his detention cell on the second day of his trial in connection to the Hambalang sports center graft case.
"I have reading and writing habits," Andi told the panel of judges during a hearing at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Monday. "All these times we can read books, but it would be wonderful if I were permitted to use e-books. All new books, if not in the form of e-books, may take a year before they arrive in Indonesia."
Andi also asked judges to allow him to bring a laptop inside his cell at a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) facility in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
He said that he has been putting pen to paper, "but now I request to be allowed to write with a laptop. I now write every week."
The KPK prohibits detainees from using electronic devices for communication, such as cell phones and internet-enabled tablets. Andi therefore asked that he be allowed to use a laptop without internet.
"We will study and consider [the request]," presiding judge Haswandi said before concluding Monday's hearing.
Before making the request, Andi denied the prosecutors' charges against him during the first day of his trial last week, saying that he never approved the graft-tainted construction project.
Prosecutors accused Andi of receiving Rp 10 billion ($884,000) in kickbacks while awarding Hambalang tenders to state-run construction firm Adhi Karya and other subcontractors.
The former secretary of the Democratic Party's High Assembly was also accused of "enriching" a number of people through his allegedly corrupt endorsement of the project, including Wafid Muharram, former secretary to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, Deddy Kusdinar, former head of the ministry's financial planning and domestic affairs bureau, and Andi Zulkarnaen "Choel" Mallarangeng, the minister's younger brother.
Deddy, the first person convicted in the case, was sentenced to six years in prison last week for receiving Rp 300 million in kickbacks from the project.
Andi is facing up to 20 years in prison if proven guilty.
Andi denied endorsing the project, claiming that the tender process was already completed by the time Wafid had informed him of the dealings in November 2010. He added that the ministerial team involved in the project was set up by Wafid before Andi began his term as minister in 2009.
He also said that he didn't sign any documents endorsing the project, and that Wafid signed the proposal himself before submitting it to the Ministry of Finance.
Andi placed blame on the Finance Ministry, saying it failed to abide by the law when endorsing the proposal because it was not signed by him and the public works minister, as required in a 2010 Finance Ministry regulation concerning proposals for multi-year projects.
"In short, had the Finance Ministry done its job guarding the goal, they should have blocked the proposal for the Hambalang project funding," Andi said. "In fact, though, on December 6, 2010, the director general for budgeting — on behalf of the finance minister — approved the proposal and disbursed approximately Rp 1.2 trillion."
The budget since then swelled to Rp 2.5 trillion, according to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
The graft-ridden project is believed to have cost the state Rp 464.4 billion in losses.
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