Angelina Threatened to Bring ‘Tsunami’ on House: Rosalina

Rizky Amelia

With graft investigators’ net widening in late 2010, Angelina Sondakh allegedly threatened to unleash a “tsunami” on the House of Representatives building in Senayan, Central Jakarta, if she were to be dragged into one of the nation’s most high-profile corruption scandals.

That threat was allegedly leveled in December 2010 while visiting graft convict Mindo Rosalina Manulang at Jakarta’s Pondok Bambu detention center.

Angelina was said to have visited Rosalina to ask for assistance in keeping her name out of a case involving the graft-ridden construction of an athletes’ village in Palembang. Rosalina, who was convicted for her role in the scandal, said Angelina was anxious because her name had been mentioned in the growing scandal.

“Angelina said, ‘I just came from Anas’s [Urbaningrum, Democratic Party chairman] house, I don’t want to be sacrificed alone,’ ” Rosalina told investigators in a report read by a prosecutor at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday.

Rosalina told the court that Angelina claimed to have received assurances from Anas that she would not be touched by the Nazaruddin fallout, but that if she was outed, she would reveal “the rot at the House.”

“She said, ‘If I’m implicated, I’ll be very angry. I will bring upon Senayan [where the House is located] a tsunami greater even than [graft convict Muhammad] Nazaruddin’s,’”

Angelina was indicted last month for receiving bribes from Permai Group amounting to Rp 12.5 billion ($1.3 million) and $2.3 million as a Democratic Party lawmaker in order to smooth the appointment of Nazaruddin’s company as the tender winner of projects related to the athletes village at the Ministry of Youth and Sport Affairs, and in a separate case involving the National Education Ministry.

Rosalina told the court that many lawmakers acted as part of a “budget mafia” at the House of Representatives, including Angelina, I Wayan Koster of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and Azis Syamsuddin and  Zulkarnaen Djabbar of the Golkar Party.