Anti-corruption commission chief accused of murder
The victim was Nazruddin Zulkarnaen, CEO of PT Rajawali Putra Banjaran –a top business company under the corporation of Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI). Zulkarnaen was shot to death in his car by gunmen in Tangerang last March.
The KPK has become an essential element of President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono’s campaign to combat corruption in the country. Azhar was senior prosecutor and later the Attorney General Offices spokesperson before finally being installed as Indonesia’s KPK Chief one year ago. Under his leadership dozens of government representatives and members of parliament were charged and brought before the courts.
The motive for the murder is still unclear, but sources close to the victim’s family say it is linked to an affair with a woman who had ties both with the victim and the accused. Azhar has denied all charges and has told journalists that Zulkarnaen was a personal friend who had passed him on vital confidential information on the corruption case against the RNI group.
Police have also arrested Sigid Haryo Wibisono, owner of the Jakarta daily Merdeka, who according to police sources paid the hit men. Wibisono is known to be Azhar strongest supporter and to have pushed to have him elected chief of the KPK. In the Indonesian political atmosphere this means that Wibisono is likely to have paid illicit sums of money to politicians on the left and right of the political divide to ensure Azhar’s appointment to the top position on the Commission.
Lawyers for the victims’ family reveal that so far the only proof is a text message sent by Azhar to Zulkarnaen, which reads: “You know the risk”. This – according to the lawyers – was a veiled threat to Zelkarnaen should he have made the affair public.
Presidential spokesperson, Andi Mallarangeng, has declared that “the law should be enforced without any preference. If the supremacy of the law is not enforced against the KPK Chief, the image of the body will be tarnished”.
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