R.J. Lino:
I'm being Harassed

Richard Joost Lino got word that he had been indicted for corruption one hour before the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) broke the news to the media. That day, on December 18, 2004, Lino and his team gathered in South Jakarta, ahead of their meeting with the House of Representatives' special committee on Pelindo. "I was shocked," Lino said last Tuesday as he recounted the episode to Tempo.

Lino apparently finds it hard to accept the reality. With his attorney Maqdir Ismail, he filed for a pretrial hearing to challenge his indictment by the KPK. Amid his hectic preparations for the hearing, Lino made time to meet with Tempo for a special interview. Throughout the interview, he reiterated his rationale behind the direct appointment of a Chinese company to supply three units of quay container cranes (QCCs) that eventually landed him in hot water. "Look at it objectively. Before the direct appointment, we conducted the tender nine times but always failed (to find a suitable supplier)," he said.

January 5, 2016