SUMMARY:

On Tuesday, March 10, activists and politicians heavily criticized the proposal of Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo’s to dramatically increase annual public funding for political parties to Rp 1 trillion each. Indonesia Corruption Watch coordinator Ade Irawan suggested taking a much more modest and incremental approach to slowly build up political parties’ capacity to manage public funds in a responsible manner. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the figure had not been discussed at the State Palace, and that it would be unfair to provide such a large sum to each party equally, and that a formula should take into account their seat allocations in the House of Representatives (DPR). Tjahjo had said increased funding for political parties, including their operational expenses, candidate recruitment and public civic education efforts, could help to cut down on corruption.

On Tuesday, March 10, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) requested more data from Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama regarding his report regarding irregularities in the draft 2015 Jakarta budget. The creators of Kawal Pemilu, the popular crowdsourcing website that organized an independent tabulation of the 2014 presidential election result, have jumped into the battle over the Jakarta budget by creating an online application that allows the public to view discrepancies between the version that was deliberated, and the version that included Rp 12.1 trillion in additional spending that emerged later. In addition to the KPK’s efforts, Jakarta Metro Police have already questioned dozens of witnesses related to mark-ups in the procurement of uninterruptable power supply (UPS) units for the city’s schools last year. The Jakarta Metro Police also aim to question city councilors in the case.

On Tuesday, March 10, interim KPK Commissioner Indriyanto Seno Adji said that the Supreme Court’s indication it would reject an appeal (peninjauan kembali – PK)  to review of the pre-trial ruling that halted the investigation into Budi Gunawan was within its rights and in accordance with the law. Indriyanto said the law does not permit a government institution the right to file an appeal against a lower-court decision. However, activists have continued to press the KPK to file an appeal, and Tempopointed out that the Supreme Court had previously accepted an appeal filed by the National Police in a case involving fraud and embezzlement. Judicial Commission head Taufiqurrahman Syahuri warned that any decision at the point on whether or not the Supreme Court would accept an appeal were premature and as such could represent an ethical violation, as the appeal had not yet been submitted. The KPK will face another pre-trial motion next week from graft suspect and former DPR member Sutan Bhatoegana. On Monday, the KPK denied Sutan’s bail request to attend the proceedings at the South Jakarta District Court once they begin next week. Former Religious Affairs minister and graft suspect Suryadharma Ali has also filed a pre-trial motion to fight the charges against him.

With its investigation into alleged ethical violations by judge Sarpin Rizaldi in the Budi Gunawan’s case still ongoing, the Judicial Commission announced on Monday that it is looking into a separate incident in which a judge from the Supreme Court was reported to have had dinner with a defendant in an ongoing corruption case, and the defendant’s lawyer, on four separate occasions. If proven true, the allegations would represent a significant breach of ethics, and could carry significant penalties. The spokesman for the court, Suhardi, claims they may have been friends and did not discuss the ongoing case.

In further legal developments, former Law and Human Rights minister Denny Indrayana announced that he would answer the National Police’s summons for questioning on Thursday, March 12 regarding alleged state losses caused by the online payment gateway initiated to handle passport application fees during his tenure at the ministry. Via his Twitter account (@dennyindrayana), Denny has defended his innocence and the benefits the online payment system provided the public. The State Audit Agency (BPK) found no problems with the system in its routine audits, and Denny’s ministry had even received an award from the Presidential Working Unit for Supervision and Management of Development (UKP4) for the program. Inactive KPK Chair Abraham Samad was scheduled to undergo further questioning on Tuesday, March 10 in South Sulawesi in connection to allegations he falsified documents to allow a young woman to obtain a passport. However, as explained by his lawyer, Samad was unable to attend due to scheduling problems.   

On Monday, March 9, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced suspended Palembang mayor Romi Herton and his wife Masyito to six and four years behind bars, respectively, for committing perjury and bribing former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar. The couple was found guilty of bribing Akil, who was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes from scores of regional heads in exchange for favorable rulings in local election disputes. Aside from the recently convicted couple and Akil, six other individuals have been convicted in separate cases and sentenced to a combined total of 32 years in prison, while three additional cases are still ongoing.

On Tuesday, March 10, the National Police’s Victor Simanjuntak denied that his recent promotion to director of economic and special crimes was aimed at speeding up the completion of the investigation into inactive KPK Vice Chair Bambang Widjojanto. He told media that the case file had already been completed before his promotion, and would be sent to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) for prosecution. However, he indicated that the forwarding of the case file had been placed on hold because of Jokowi’s instruction to halt the criminalization of the KPK leadership.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

Friday, March 6 – National Police question Denny Indrayana regarding online payment gateway

Friday, March 6 – National Police promote controversial figure to handle Bambang Widjojanto’s investigation

Friday, March 6 – Following Press Council’s lead, National Police drop Tempo magazine investigation

Friday, March 6 – Komnas HAM Commissioners reported to National Police for exceeding authority

Monday, March 9 – Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo proposes dramatic increase in public spending on political parties

Monday, March 9 – Jakarta Corruption Court finds couple guilty in election bribery scandal involving Akil

Tuesday, March 10 – KPK asks Ahok for supporting information on budget mark-ups

IMPLICATIONS:

Efforts, such as those by Kawal APBD, to make budgets more transparent and accessible to the public are welcome developments in the fight against corruption. While much attention has been paid to the current Jakarta budget battle, nearly 500 district/municipal budgets and 34 provincial budgets should garner the same level of attention. With one of the highest concentrations of social media users worldwide, Indonesia certainly possesses the technological prowess to highlight instances of budget mark-ups and suspicious spending activities. Interactive applications can help to engage broader swaths of society in public oversight, as was seen in the hotly contested 2014 presidential election.

The National Police continue to send mixed messages regarding its handling of cases against KPK staff and supporters. Recent statements indicate that Jokowi’s instruction to halt the criminalization of the KPK are beginning to be heeded, the case against Denny Indrayana continues to move forward, suggesting that efforts to undermine the anti-graft body’s supporters continue to move ahead with vigor. Jokowi’s independent advisory team, the so-called Team of Nine, has sided handily with the KPK and individuals like Denny Indrayana. Recent media statements indicate the team have grown increasingly frustrated with their advice falling on deaf ears.

In an interesting turn of events, a judge with Central Java’s Purwokerto District Court ruled that a corruption suspect’s status was not a matter for a pre-trial hearing. Indonesia’s legal system is not built upon the use of legal precedent but is a codified legal system; therefore the high-profile media coverage and the legal community’s round rejection of Sarpin’s earlier ruling may be having ripple effects throughout the judicial system, and providing clarity for district court justices across the country. However, the Supreme Court’s continued indication that it would reject an appeal by the KPK to reverse Sarpin’s ruling, despite procedural and ethical violations documented in part in the attached legal review by the University of Indonesia’s Legal Faculty, diminishes the chances to address what has been described as a miscarriage of justice in the Budi Gunawan case.

Information as of 5:30 p.m. WIB, March 10, 2015