SECRET American diplomatic cables have implicated the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in allegations of substantial corruption and abuse of power, puncturing his international reputation as a political cleanskin and reformer.
The cables reveal allegations that Dr Yudhoyono has intervened to influence prosecutors and judges to protect corrupt political figures and pressure his adversaries, while using the intelligence service to spy on political rivals and, at least once, a senior minister in his government.
They detail claims that Dr Yudhoyono’s former vicepresident reportedly paid millions of dollars to buy control of Indonesia’s largest political party, and accuse the President’s wife and her family of seeking to enrich themselves through their political connections.
The revelations come as the Vice-President, Boediono, visits Canberra today for talks with the acting Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, and with officials on administrative change to reform Indonesia’s notoriously corrupt bureaucracy.
The cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and provided exclusively to the Herald, disclose claims that soon after becoming President in 2004, Dr Yudhoyono intervened in the case of Taufik Kiemas, the husband of the former president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
According to the cables, Mr Taufik reportedly used his continuing control of his wife’s Indonesian Democratic Party, then the second largest in the parliament, to broker protection from prosecution for what US diplomats described as ‘‘legendary corruption during his wife’s tenure’’.
In December 2004 the US embassy in Jakarta reported that one of its most valued political informants, a senior presidential adviser, T. B. Silalahi, had advised that the assistant attorneygeneral Hendarman Supandji, had gathered sufficient evidence of the corruption of Mr Taufik to warrant his arrest.
But Silalahi, one of Dr Yudhoyono’s closest political confidants told the embassy of claims that the President ‘‘instructed Hendarman not to pursue a case against Taufik’’. No proceedings were brought and Mr Taufik is now Speaker of the parliament.
The President’s wife, Kristiani Herawati, and relatives feature prominently in the cables, with US diplomats highlighting alleged efforts to profit financially from its political position.
As early as 2006 the embassy commented that ‘‘Kristiani Herawati is increasingly seeking to profit personally by acting as a broker or facilitator for business ventures . . . Numerous contacts also tell us that Kristiani’s family members have begun establishing companies in order to commercialise their family’s influence.’’
Other cables detail claims that Dr Yudhoyono has used the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to spy on his political allies and opponents.
Dr Yudhoyono personally directed the BIN chief Syamsir Siregar to instruct his officers to conduct surveillance on one of the most senior cabinet ministers, the state secretary Yusril Mahendra, while he made a secret trip to Singapore to meet a Chinese businessman, the cables allege.
The President also allegedly asked BIN to spy on rival presidential candidates.
The presidential adviser TB Silalahi told diplomats Dr Yudhoyono ‘‘shared the most sensitive BIN reporting on political matters only with himself and cabinet secretary Sudi Silalahi’’.
source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Indonesian version: Sydney Morning Herald: Corruption Allegations Againt Yudhoyono
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