Congratulation, you (Misbakhun) have made a sacrifice...."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Former vice president Jusuf Kalla said he supported the efforts made by a number of legislators to uncover the mystery of the Bank Century scandal`s bailout funds amounting to Rp6.7 trillion.
"I must give appreciation to Misbakhun, Akbar Faisal, Bambang Soesatyo and other legislators who have persistently fought for justice regarding the alleged Century scandal," the former vice president said here on Monday.
Kalla made the statement when he spoke to the launch of a book by Muhammad Misbakhun entitled: "Melawan Takluk: Perlawanan Dari Penjara Century," (Subdued In Resistance: Resistance from Century Prison).
According to Kalla a struggle bears a risk. Misbakhun, one of the initiators of a House of Representatives (DPR)`s inquiry into the Century case, even found himself locked up in jail.
The Supreme Court (MA) later acquitted him and let him walk free after two years in confinement.
Kalla said that the jailing of Misbakhun was part of a struggle such as what was experienced by previous leaders such as Bung Karno (former president Sukarno) who was also jailed in the past.
"Congratulation, you (Misbakhun) have made a sacrifice. Hopefully it bears implicit rewards for being two years in jail. There you can meet with Luna Maya, can you?," Kalla said jokingly, referring to Luna Maya, an artist whose` boyfriend was jailed.
Kalla who is also a former chairman of the Golkar Party said that politicians nowadays must be very careful in fighting for the truth because they could just adversely be subjected to unpredictable problems.
"Novel Baswedan came up to the surface with a swallow nest case. Yusril Ihza Mahendra also faced a problem with an online business registration case. This is sending a message: be careful when you talk," the former vice president said.
In other part of his lecture, Kalla said that the efforts to reveal the Century case were not only aimed at chasing former owner of Bank Century Robert Tantular but also at providing a lesson for the future rulers so that they would pay attention to the people, not to the interest of capital owners.
"The efforts to uncover Century case are not aimed only at hunting down Robert Tantular or banks officials but also at reminding that whoever holds state powers in the future should not give a priority to a capital owner because any mistake done would be borne by the people," Kalla said.
He stressed that for the sake of morality, a mistake in the banking system should not burden the people. "One should not cause the people to suffer from hardship only because there is a `robbery` in a bank," he said. (A014/BSR/YH)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
