Legislator Denies Extorting State-Owned Company

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Member of the House of Representatives' (DPR) Commission XI Sumaryoto has denied that he has extorted state-owned PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines.

"It is not true that my client has asked for a 'fee" or something from the president director of PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MNA), Rudy Setyopurnomo, or other directors," Sumaryoto's lawyer Warsito said at a press conference at his client's residence in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, here on Tuesday.

He said his client has a constitutional right as a DPR member to be critical to the government or working partners such as PT MNA and so if his client was critical at a Commission XI's Working Committee meeting with PT MNA it must never be perceived that he had hidden agenda.

"Moreover linking him to government's capital participation in PT MNA worth Rp561 billion in the revised 2011 budget and Rp200 billion more in the 2012 budget approved by Commission XI in 2011," he said.

Warsito said his client who is a DPR member from the Indonesia Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP) had only become a member of the Financial Commission in 2012 while the alleged extortion happened in 2011 while he was still a member of Defense Commission I.

He said his client had been critical to prevent the company from losing under a new leader whose commitment and performance is still questionable.

"Criticizing does not mean extorting. At the time PT Merpati was said to make a profit of Rp500 million per day while the fact is it lost Rp70 billion a month meaning Merpati's performance now is worse that it was before. So, could a company with bad performance pay a fee," he said.(*/T007)