SUMMARY:

On Tuesday, March 31, the South Jakarta District Court heard opening arguments on the pre-trial motion of former Religious Affairs minister Suryadharma Ali as he challenged his status as a corruption suspect. Lawyers for the former minister alleged the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) charges against their client were filed in retribution for his political support for Prabowo Subianto, referencing earlier allegations that inactive KPK Chair Abraham Samad pursued a political agenda against police general Budi Gunawan. Suryadharma’s lawyers pointed to his award-winning accomplishments as a two-term minister, and his success in improving the financial management of hajj funds that he stands accused of embezzling, as evidence of his sterling character. Hearings are set to continue throughout the week, and offer the KPK an opportunity to present its defense.

On Monday, March 30, South Jakarta District Court judge Sarpin Rizaldi provided a witness statement to investigators at the National Police as part of the criminal defamation complaint he filed on Friday, March 27 against the head of the Judicial Commission, Suparman Marzuki, and commissioner Taufiqurrahman Syahuri. Sarpin has alleged that the pair injured his reputation through their criticism of his decision to grant Budi Gunawan’s pretrial motion and dismiss his corruption charges. The Criminal Code explicitly states that a suspect’s status cannot be challenged in a pre-trial hearing. Taufiqurrahman Syahuri defended his comments as being part of his professional duty as the head of the review panel looking into whether Sarpin’s handling of the case violated professional and ethical standards. On Monday, March 30, the University of Indonesia-based Indonesian Judiciary Supervisory Community (MaPPI) said barring a review by the Supreme Court or amendments to the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), pre-trial hearings would continue to plague law enforcement agencies in their efforts to prosecute cases. However, three separate district courts have thrown out similar pre-trial motions, and the South Jakarta District Court ruled on Friday, March 27 that the pre-motion filed by former House of Representatives (DPR) energy committee chair Sutan Bhatoegana was automatically voided by the case being brought to trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo continues to face an uphill battle against the DPR to obtain support for the confirmation of Badrodin Haiti as the new chief of the National Police. While the Democrat party, headed by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has been outspoken about the urgent need to select a new police chief, Jokowi's own party PDI-P has been a driver of continued procedural delays. The deputy chair of Commission III, Trimedya Panjaitan (PDI-P – Sumatra Utara 2), said on Tuesday, March 31, that his commission – which overseas law, human rights, and security affairs – required a detailed personal explanation from the President as to why Budi Gunawan's nomination had been withdrawn before it could clear the way for Haiti’s confirmation hearings. As a compromise solution, Jokowi proposed to send an “advance team” of experts to brief the DPR; however, Deputy House Speaker Fadli Zon (Gerindra – West Java 5) said the DPR expected the President to attend a consultative meeting tomorrow, Thursday April 1, to further explain his reasoning behind the switch.

On Tuesday, March 31, National Police spokesman Rikwanto announced that investigators from the National Police Detective Division (BARESKRIM) had examined a KPK staff member as a witness last week in their case against former deputy Law and Human Rights minister Denny Indrayana. Rikwanto said the KPK had red-flagged the online payment gateway associated with the web-based passport application system for its legal liabilities. The unnamed KPK employee allegedly told police that the anti-graft agency had advised Denny to reconsider the design of the system before its implementation. KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha confirmed that an employee had been questioned by police, but did not collaborate any of the details of the interview. Separately, former Law and Human Rights minister Amir Syamsuddin defended the system, saying that its vendors only kept application fees in a private account overnight as part of their standard services as payment aggregators. Amir emphasized that the full amount was then transferred to the state treasury.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

Friday, March 27 – South Jakarta District Court rules Sutan Bhatoegana’s pre-trial motion void upon case being brought to trial.

Monday, March 30 – KPK receives extensions on three pre-trial motions as proceedings are adjourned

Monday, March 30 – Sarpin provides witness statement to back up defamation claims

Tuesday, March 31 – South Jakarta District Court hears opening arguments in Suryadharma Ali’s pre-trial motion

Tuesday, March 31 – PDI-P House official demands Presidential explanation for dropping Budi Gunawan as police chief

IMPLICATIONS:

The choice of Suryadharma Ali’s legal counsel to mount a character-based defense and launch unproven allegations of political intrigue indicates a disingenuous attempt to smear the KPK and skirt the law. Numerous convictions have proven in a court of law that the Religious Affairs Ministry was a hotbed of corruption under Suryadharma Ali’s tenure, indicating that he was either tacitly supportive or was inept in his oversight of the ministry’s activities. Allegations that Abraham Samad had a political ax to grind ignore the fact that KPK decisions are made on a collective basis so that one commissioner may not exercise undue influence on the entire institution.

Judge Sarpin Rizaldi’s defamation claim is baseless and a distraction from the ethics panel looking into his handling of Budi Gunawan’s pre-trial motion. The clear manipulation of Indonesia’s outdated criminal defamation laws to harass political opponents has long been a cause for concern, but is particularly objectionable in this instance. Judicial Commissioner Taufiqurrahman Syahuri had previously considered filing a countersuit, but decided against it, as he said it would represent a conflict of interest and would force him to withdraw from the ethics panel just weeks before it is slated to reach a decision. Sarpin certainly has a checkered past, having been brought before the Judicial Commission on no less than eight previous occasions for alleged ethics violations.

Issues of institutional ego, rather than genuine concerns for public policy, continue to drag on in the conflict between the DPR and the President regarding the selection of a new National Police chief. PDI-P had a vested interest in seeing Budi Gunawan, a former aide to party patron Megawati Sukarnoputri, installed as the nation’s top policeman. However, it is entirely unclear what the party hopes to gain by blocking the nomination made by its popularly elected President. Some could argue that PDI-P is struggling to transition out of its former role as a nominal opposition party and into a cohesive center of political leadership. Following concerns that Jokowi would face a largely uncooperative DPR as he took office, the irony that his own party continues to be the largest stumbling block is lost on few observers. PDI-P has announced that it will not discuss replacing Megawati as the head of the party at its upcoming congress on April 9-11; despite a recent opinion poll by Polltracking Indonesia that showed the party’s founder was the least popular choice out of nine potential party leaders, according to the 200 experts surveyed. Jokowi topped the list, followed by Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo.

The National Police appear to be employing a devide-and-conquer approach to its case against Denny Indrayana, by announcing the involvement of the KPK in its investigation, thus driving a wedge between the two. Whether or not the KPK had reviewed the design of the online payment gateway is irrelevant and has no bearing on the program’s final execution. Until now, the police’s claims of state losses appear to be entirely without merit and no financial link of any kind has emerged between Denny and the system’s vendors who were selected through an open bidding process. The police’s focus on issues of administrative law rather than genuine criminality have been rightly criticized by Jimly Asshidiqie of the President’s independent “Team of Nine” as a transparent attempt to undermine the character of the KPK’s most ardent supporters.

Information as of 5:30 p.m. WIB, March 31, 2015