Anti-Graft Body to Question Energy Minister on Monday

Jakarta (Antara) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is expected to question Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik as a witness in an alleged graft case at the upstream oil and gas regulatory special task force (SKK Migas) office on Monday. "Jero Wacik did not come (at the KPK building on Tuesday) because he is out of the city. He is scheduled to attend a KPK hearing next Monday," KPK spokesman Johan Budi said here on Tuesday. KPK was expected to question Jero Wacik on Tuesday. Head of the Communication Center at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Saleh Abdurrahman said Jero could not respond to the KPK summons because he had left for Bali in the afternoon. "The minister has just arrived in Bali as part of the President's working team," Saleh said in a written statement released on Tuesday. He said Jero would attend the hearing next week because he is scheduled to chair the fourth Asean Ministerial Meeting on Minerals (AMMIN) in Bali on November 28-29. Earlier in the day, KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said Jero Wacik would be questioned about former SKK Migas chief Rudi Rubiandini, who has been named as a suspect in the alleged graft case. Last Friday, the KPK had imposed a six-month overseas travel ban on Jero Wacik's adjutant, I Gusti Putu Ade, for his alleged role in the case. (*)