0 KPK Detains Ex-Health Ministry Director in Bird Flu Vaccine Case

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detained the Ministry of Health’s former director for medical services Ratna Dewi Umar on Monday, almost three years after she was named a suspect in an embezzlement scandal that cost the state some Rp 12 billion ($1.2 million) in losses. Ratna stands accused of marking up the costs of medical equipment in 2007 that was needed in case of a widespread outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus. The ministry had set up a H5N1 division at its crisis response center to deal with a possible outbreak as the nation stared down a serious threat. 

The center was being funded at the height of Indonesia’s bird flu epidemic. The virus had killed more than 100 people in Indonesia by the end of 2007. The nation remains the hardest hit by the H5N1 virus and is home to 159 of the 359 human fatalities reported worldwide to the World Health Organization. But, according to the KPK, health officials were allegedly siphoning funds off bird flu procurement projects. Ratna was named a suspect in May of 2010 for her alleged role in the embezzlement. Crisis center head Rustam Syarifuddin Pakaya was also named a suspect in the case. 

Ratna told journalists that she was eager to put her legal troubles behind her. She denied the charges. “If you ask me whether I feel victimized, yes, I do,” she told reporters as she was escorted to the KPK’s van. “You will hear the rest in court later.” Ratna’s son cried as he accompanied her to the KPK’s van. “Kiki should not cry,” she told her son. “Mommy is strong.” The antigraft body can hold Ratna for 20 days at their detention center in East Jakarta as investigators prepare their indictment, KPK spokesman Johan Budi said. Ratna continued to maintain her innocence on Monday. 

She argued that her superior should be held responsible for the losses instead. “What is clear is that [the purchase of bird flu equipment] is the domain of the research and development [office] and not the domain of the medical services directorate,” she said. Former Health Minister Endang Sri Rahayu was the head of the pharmaceutical and biomedical research and development office in 2007. She later became the health minister before passing away last May.

source : the jakarta globe