SUMMARY:

On Friday, March 20, the National Police further upped its rhetoric against former deputy Law and Human Rights minister Denny Indrayana, who stands accused of corruption stemming from an online passport application system that is alleged to have caused state losses. National Police spokesman Anton Charliyan, who was just promoted to the position from the unit of police general Budi Gunawan, said that the former deputy minister would be named a suspect within a matter of days if he continued to refuse to submit to questioning. During a previous interrogation Denny was prevented from having legal counsel present, as his legal status was that of a witness, rather than a suspect. Considering that the Police has not hidden the fact that the case targets Denny, he refused to undergo questioning without a lawyer present. National Police Detectives Unit Director Budi Waseso said on Friday, March 20, that if Denny preferred to have a lawyer present, he would be happy to charge the former minister as a suspect as early as Tuesday, March 24.

On Monday, March 23, hearings were scheduled to begin at the South Jakarta District court regarding former corruption suspect Sutan Bhatoegana’s motion for dismissal. Similar to developments in Budi Gunawan’s pre-trial hearings, lawyers for the former Democrat lawmaker put forward last minute revisions to the motion, alleging that among other things, the National Police hard ordered the two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators handling Sutan’s case to halt their investigation, and therefore their further investigation was without legal basis. Sutan’s lawyers also objected to the seizure of their client’s car in 2012, as the charges against him were alleged to have taken place in 2013. Lawyers for the KPK did not attend Monday’s opening session, prompting the judge to delay proceedings for two weeks, resuming again on April 6.

On Monday, March 23, the House of Representatives (DPR) returned from a three-week recess. Representatives are slated to discuss Budi Gunawan’s withdrawal as National Police chief-nominee and his subsequent replacement by Badrodin Haiti, as well as the Presidential decree in lieu of regulation (Perppu) that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued to install three interim KPK commissioners to address vacancies at the anti-graft agency. Monday’s plenary session heard the reading of the Perppu, along with a number of speeches, but with little substantive discussion of the matter. The Perppu will be sent to the DPR’s consultative council (Badan Musyawarah) for further discussion.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

Wednesday, March 18 – KPK announces it will press forward with investigations despite pre-trial motions

Wednesday, March 18 – Pontianak District Court judge strikes down pre-trial motion to review suspect’s legal status

Wednesday, March 18 – Udar Pristono files counterclaim against AGO for property seizures

Wednesday, March 18 – Budi Gunawan’s lawyer, Razman Arif Nasution, sent to prison for abuse of nephew

Thursday, March 19 – Judicial Commission, Sarpin trade allegations of defamation

Thursday, March 19 – Budi Waseso confirms investigations against KPK remain in play

Friday, March 20 – KPK signs MoU with several ministries to examine corruption in natural resources sector

Friday, March 20 – Police indicate Denny Indrayana to be charged imminently

Monday, March 23 – Sutan Bhatoegana’s pre-trial hearings open, delayed until April 6

Monday, March 23 – House of Representatives returns from recess

IMPLICATIONS:

The National Police’s continued pressure against Denny Indrayana to undergo questioning as a “witness” in its investigation into the online payment gateway created to handle passport application fees is based on an intentionally narrow interpretation of the Criminal Code, which states that a witness has the option to have legal counsel present. Budi Waseso previously stated that since a lawyer’s presence was optional, the police were not required to comply, and could question Denny without his legal representatives. This is a clear departure from standard procedure, and a transparent attempt to intimidate the former deputy minister into cooperating with an investigation that is clearly aimed at finding legal fault with his previous initiative. The case is widely believed, despite Waseso’s repeated denials, to be motivated by resentment for Denny’s vocal support for the KPK and its former pursuit of money laundering charges against police general Budi Gunawan.

The South Jakarta District Court’s decision to delay proceedings in Sutan’s pre-trial hearings has given the KPK a brief reprieve, but falls short of the swift dismissal that anti-graft activists had hoped for. KPK legal bureau chief Chatarina Mulyana Girsang has stated on several separate occasions that the anti-graft agency’s resources are being stretched to their limits with the spate of pre-trial motions. In the coming weeks, the KPK is scheduled to face off against no less than four separate legal challenges by those it has charged with graft. Although the Attorney General’s Office has agreed to provide 10 additional attorneys to support the KPK, the current situation is clearly untenable, and will continue to strain the anti-graft agency until the Sarpin effect is curbed by a ruling from a higher legal authority.

Although few observers predict significant challenges to the confirmation of Badrodin Haiti as the next National Police chief, a small number of representatives at the DPR continue to question the procedural aspects of Budi Gunawan’s withdrawal from consideration. It is a new situation for the DPR, and as such, proceedings may take some time. However, it remains widely believed that Haiti will be confirmed, despite his implication in the same Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) report of suspicious financial transactions that became Gunawan’s undoing.

Embroiled in ongoing party rifts between rival factions of Golkar and PPP, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly faces significant public pressure to drop his proposal to provide corruption convicts with sentence reductions. Although his proposal includes a number of conditions, it flies in the face of legal regulation and public opinion that hold corruption should be treated as an extraordinary crime, and punishment should be vetted out accordingly. As ICW’s research shows, the majority of sentences remain relatively light in comparison with the losses they cause to state revenue, the damage they do to public trust in the state, and the perversion of public resources for private benefit. The sentences in cases handled by the KPK have been much stiffer in comparison to those handled by the AGO, especially since the KPK has started charging suspects with both bribery and money laundering.

Information as of 5:30 p.m. WIB, March 23, 2015