SUMMARY:

In what has been billed as a “final step” in the conflict between Indonesia’s anti-graft agency and the National Police, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) forwarded its investigation into Budi Gunawan to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Monday, March 2 for further processing. Speaking at KPK headquarters on Monday, March 2, Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo said his institution was ready to take over the case and was “unafraid of being criminalized” for taking the case. Both statements followed a high-level meeting at the KPK building among top law enforcement officials, including Deputy National Police Chief Badrodin Haiti, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy.

After weeks of heated public statements regarding alleged mark-ups in the provincial budget, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama submitted a report to the KPK on Friday, Feb. 27. Ahok has accused city council members of surreptitiously inserting questionable programming into the 2015 draft provincial budget, which he rejected. The city council has threatened to launch an inquiry into what it sees as an overreach of gubernatorial authority, which may result in Ahok’s impeachment. The governor has remained unwavering in his defense of the move and in the use of e-budgeting tools to prevent last-minute manipulation of budgetary line-items. Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Firdaus Ilyas told Tempo that ongoing research indicated mark-ups may top Rp 12 trillion. Ahok’s no-nonsense approach has endeared him to many Jakartans who came out to support him during the city’s monthly Car-Free Day on Sunday, March 1. Supporters have also taken to Twitter, with the hashtag “#SaveAhok” surpassing “#SaveKPK” as of March 1 on the popular social media site.

On Friday, Feb. 27, the KPK detained three suspects – including former Papua governor Barnabas Suebu – in connection to a graft investigation into the construction of hydroelectric power plants. The KPK estimated “fictitious” feasibility studies from 2009-2010 caused around Rp 31 billion in state losses. On Monday, March 2, the KPK announced that it had also seized three hectares of land in Bali from money-laundering suspect Tubagus Chaeri Wardana, who was implicated in other graft investigations into Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah and Kota Tangerang Selatan mayor Airin Rachmi Diany.

On Saturday, Feb. 28, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the press that he felt every suspect, whether the case was being handled by the KPK, the police or the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), had the right to file a pre-trial motions to challenge their legal status. His unorthodox interpretation of Criminal Code Article 77, which explicitly prohibits such legal challenges, was delivered in his hometown of Makassar, South Sulawesi. He said pre-trial motions serve as a cautionary mechanism to ensure that law enforcers have properly built a case before moving forward. Echoing a similar statement, former Constitutional Court justice Jimly Asshidiqie, said he felt pre-trial motions offered important learning opportunities to the KPK to build their cases carefully and process them quickly. Jimly, who also serves at the deputy chair of the so-called Team of Nine formed by the president to provide advice on the KPK-National Police conflict, indicated on Sunday, March 1 that the cases against former National Police chief-nominee Budi Gunawan, and inactive KPK Commissioners Bambang Widjojanto and Abraham Samad should be dropped to put an end to institutional infighting and recrimination between the law enforcement agencies. Legal experts, however, have cautioned that if left unaddressed, the new trend of pre-trial motions will cripple law enforcement efforts and clog the dockets of an already overwhelmed and understaffed judicial system.

On Sunday, March 1, South Sulawesi Police reported its investigation into the document forgery case against inactive KPK char Abraham Samad found no connection between the anti-graft official and the shop listed as the address of the woman – Feryani Lim – for whom he allegedly falsified documents. On Monday, March 2, national daily Kompas reported that the shop-house actually belonged to the family of Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Following the announcement, lawyers for Abraham Samad announce they would file counter-claims for defamation against Adnan Buyung Azis, who submitted the original complaint to police that the graft-buster had forged documents and broken ethical rules by meeting with party officials from PDI-P. Abraham Samad, through his lawyers, said the lack of concrete evidence indicated that he had been the victim of an orchestrated plot to undermine the KPK.

On Friday, Feb. 27, having been twice snubbed, Deputy National Police Chief Badrodin Haiti, threatened to detain inactive KPK Vice Chair Bambang Widjojanto by force if necessary to continue its investigation into claims he compelled a witness to commit perjury in a 2010 local election dispute. Bambang’s legal team submitted a letter to the National Police on Wednesday, Feb. 25, raising a number of issues with the investigation, citing the Ombudsman’s report of procedural irregularities with his arrest and the police’s withholding refusal to share relevant information in the case. National Police representatives pledged to respond in writing to the complaints, but remained vague on a timeline for follow-up.

On Monday, March 2, the Judicial Commission called the legal teams for the KPK and Budi Gunawan to testify in its ongoing inquiry into alleged ethical and procedural violations committed by South Jakarta District Court judge Sarpin Rizaldi. Accusations have also arisen that Sarpin was not the original judge slated to handle the case, but that his selection had been engineered. Court officials claim that Sarpin’s assignment was above board, and that although judge Iman Gultom had originally been slated to handle the case, Budi Gunawan’s legal team withdrew its pretrial motion before resubmitting a revised version days later, causing a different judge to be assigned.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

Friday, Feb. 27 – KPK Commissioners meet with Jokowi

Friday, Feb. 27 – CSO coalition calls for firm presidential action and urges KPK to press forward

Friday, Feb. 27 – Inactive KPK Vice Chair Bambang Widjojanto skips National Police questioning, threatened with detention if he skips again

Friday, Feb. 27 – Jakarta Governor files complaint with KPK over city budget manipulation

Monday, March 2 – KPK hands over Budi Gunawan’s case to AGO

IMPLICATIONS:

The KPK’s institutional relationship with the AGO has seen significant improvements since the start of the conflict with the National Police, and Prasetyo’s creation of a special task force to handle corruption cases should be seen as an encouraging step. Forwarding the case to the AGO may slow progress in the investigation, as the KPK is allowed to conduct a broad variety of surveillance and evidence-gathering activities without having to first get a warrant; however, the move may present the KPK an opportunity to extricate itself from the political quagmire Budi Gunawan’s case has become in order to focus its efforts on a number of other high-profile, and high-value cases.

Ahok’s direct and vocal approach to leadership has won him a great deal of public support, but has made him few political allies and a number of enemies during his short tenure in the Jakarta provincial government. His image as an aggressive reformer, and one who is able to deliver on his promises, has contributed to the groundswell of support, especially on social media. By filing a report with the KPK, he is taking on an entrenched network of patronage relationships that rely on budget manipulation for illicit income. His statements about uninterruptable power supply (UPS) units at the heart of the scandal highlight the inclusion of government spending in areas that neither address fundamental problems facing schools or provide solutions to improve educational quality. The NasDem party, backed by media mogul Surya Paloh, instructed its city council members to vote against exercising the legislative right of inquiry, which carries with it the possibility of impeachment if Ahok is found to have committed serious procedural violations.

The arrest of three suspects in the Papuan hydroelectric case, and the seizure of assets thought to have been purchased with the proceeds of illicit activity shows that despite a variety of elite-level dynamics, the KPK continues to press ahead with important corruption cases. These actions show that despite political commentator’s fears the institution would be “paralyzed’ by cases against its commissioners, the institution remains not only active but also effective in executing its investigative mandate.

Police rhetoric remains surprisingly firm with regard to Bambang Widjojanto, despite earlier (and yet unfulfilled) pledges to clarify a variety of procedural errors that have been pointed out by credible, independent third-parties. Speaking over the weekend, Vice President Jusuf Kalla encouraged all parties to avoid the injection of politics and emotions into what should be straightforward law enforcement issues. As previously reported, the prosecution of Bambang’s case has proven a tough nut to crack for the National Police, as obtaining admissible evidence that the.

Information as of 5:30 p.m. WIB, March 2, 2015