Police to Name Suspect in Beef Hoarding Case
21 August 2015 15:40 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Brig. Gen. Victor Simanjuntak, director for economic and special crimes at the National Police, said that his institution will perform an investigation into a letter allegedly issued by the Indonesian Slaughterhouses Association (APPHI) calling on beef vendors not to slaughter coes.
“There must be a suspect in that case. It could be a vender or the association,” Victor said on Friday, August 21.
The letter, signed by APPHI chairman Abud Hadiyanto, also called on slaughterhouses to suspend cow slaughtering for four days, from 8-11 August 2015. The APPHI also demanded the Trade Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry to issue a policy to fix the figure for annual beef imports.
Victor explained that a beef hoarder could be charged with Article 53 of Law No. 18/2012 on Food and Article 107 in conjunction with Article 29 Law No. 7/2014 on Trade, in addition to the law on corruption.
To this date, Police have questioned 14 witnesses from the Trade Ministry, the Agricultural Ministry, beef importers and the beef vendors association. Earlier, Police searched two been importers PT Brahman Perkasa Sentosa and PT Tanjung Unggul Mandiri in connection with the beef hoarding case.
INDRI MAULIDAR | DEWI SUCI
