Witness denies own statements in e-ID graft case

JAKARTA. Former House of Representatives member Miryam S. Haryani, a witness in a graft case related to the electronic identity card (e-ID) procurement project, has renounced her statements recorded in the case’s investigation report, saying she was coerced by investigators.

“I want to revoke all [of my statements],” she said on Thursday. The former lawmaker was testifying in the third hearing of the trial of Irman and Sugiharto, two former high-ranking officials at the Home Ministry.

Miryam was a member of House Commission II, which oversees regional affairs, for the 2009-2014 period, when the graft allegedly occurred.

Breaking down in tears, Miryam told the Jakarta Corruption Court’s panel of judges that she had been intimidated by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators during her questioning.

“An investigator told me: ‘In 2010, we should have caught you’, I was very depressed during the questioning,” said Miryam.

She denied claims that she had disbursed money, reportedly coming from the Rp 5.9 trillion (US$440 million) e-ID project, as stated in the prosecutors’ indictment, to commission members.

Reading from the case dossier, presiding judge Jhon Halasan Butarbutar said the KPK questioned Miryam four times, namely on Dec. 1, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14, 2016, and on Jan. 24.

Sugiharto’s lawyers said they would call other witnesses to the next hearing as they felt Miryam’s denial of her own statements might make the situation worse for their client. They added that they had witnesses who could prove that the ex-lawmaker had accepted bribes in the project.