SUMMARY:

On Wednesday, April 15, the South Jakarta District Court confirmed that former Makassar mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin had withdrawn his pre-trial motion, challenging the corruption charges brought against him by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Court spokesperson Made Sutrisna also confirmed that Siti Tarwiyah, the wife of former Bangkalan Regional Representatives Council (DPRD) speaker Fuad Amin Imron, had withdrawn her pre-trial motion. As of this writing, the only pre-trial motion against the KPK that remains active is the challenge from former minister Jero Wacik, who has been charged in connection to separate cases stemming from his tenure as Tourism and Creative Industries minister and his tenure as Mining and Natural Resources minister. Hearings are slated to begin on Monday, April 20. An updated pre-trial tracking sheet is attached to this digest. A day earlier, KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said the KPK was prepared to detain Jero Wacik if he continued to prove uncooperative in the investigations. KPK investigators completed the dossier on Wacik’s subordinate Waryono Karno, who served as secretary-general at the Mining and Natural Resources Ministry, on Tuesday, April 14, and forwarded the file to the prosecutorial team to take to trial.

The KPK spokesman also announced on Wednesday, April 15 that Suryadharma Ali would be questionedfor the first time as a suspect in the case following his detention on Friday, April 10. The former Religious Affairs minister has previously been outspoken about his innocence, but refused to answer journalists’ questions when he arrived today at KPK headquarters from the Guntur Military Police detention center.

On Wednesday, April 15, the House of Representatives’ (DPR) Commission III – which oversees law, human rights, and security affairs – met to decide upon the format of confirmation hearings for Badrodin Haiti as the next chief of the National Police. Commission chair Azis Syamsudin (Golkar – Lampung 2) explained his commission had not yet decided whether to exercise its optional right to hold confirmation hearings, slated to begin tomorrow, or whether it would instead waive that right and allow President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to directly inaugurate Haiti after the expiration of the 20-day period the DPR had to provide its input. As part of its process, members of Commission III decided to visit Haiti’s home on Wednesday afternoon. Agus Rianto, of the National Police’s public relations department, told media that the visit hopefully indicated the DPR’s support for Haiti’s confirmation. A general vote is expected to be taken during a plenary session on Friday, April 17, regarding Haiti’s nomination as National Police chief. The KPK and Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) previously told Commission III they had no reason to object to Haiti’s confirmation.

On Wednesday, April 15, The Jakarta Post reported the KPK would be looking into the son of the PDI-P politician who was captured in a raid in Bali last week. KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said the anti-graft agency would summon Bambang Alamsyah, who currently succeeded his father and serves as the current regent of Tanah Laut, South Kalimantan to examine whether he might have been involved in the alleged plot to obtain mining permits for PT Mitra Maju Sukses in exchange for bribes. Bambang is the son of DPR representative Adriansyah (PDI-P – South Kalimantan 2), who was arrested in a raid at the Swiss BelHotel in Sanur, Bali on Thursday, April 9 with the equivalent of Rp 500 million in cash in his possession. Andrew Hidayat of PT Mitra Maju Sukses was arrested in Jakarta on the same evening in a parallel operation conducted by the KPK. PDI-P announced on Wednesday, April 15, that paperwork was already being processed to recall Adriansyah from his DPR seat and to appoint an appropriate replacement.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

Thursday, April 9 – Jero Wacik dodges second KPK summons for questioning in tourism case

Thursday, April 9 – KPK arrests DPR member Adriansyah and two others in raid

Friday, April 10 – Suryadharma Ali submits to KPK questioning in hajj fraud case

Friday, April 10 – Suryadharma Ali detained by KPK after questioning

Friday, April 10 – KPK releases police officer Agung Krisdianto detained in Bali raid

Monday, April 13 – Hadi Poernomo withdraws pre-trial motion

Monday, April 13 – South Jakarta District Court annuls pre-trial motion of Sutan Bhatoegana

Monday, April 13 – Jero Wacik skips first KPK summons in mining and natural resources case

Tuesday, April 14 – Police search offices of online payment gateway vendors

Tuesday, April 14 – Police postpone briefing on Budi Gunawan’s case after failure to coordinate with KPK, PPATK

Tuesday, April 14 – South Jakarta District Court rejects pre-trial motion of Suroso Atmo Martoyo

IMPLICATIONS:

The South Jakarta District Court’s announcement that the KPK has two fewer pre-trial motions to overcome follows just a day after the anti-graft agency’s win over former Pertamina director Suroso Atmo Martoyo. In yesterday’s landmark ruling, presiding judge Riyadi Sunindyo affirmed the authority of the KPK to hire independent investigators and upheld their authority to arrest suspects. This judicial decision not only has immediate implications, but also helps to defend against future challenges of its authority in the medium and long term. The pre-trial motion filed by Jero Wacik remains the sole active challenge at the South Jakarta District Court, yet may prove influential depending on the outcome. While the trend of finding in favor of KPK does not eliminate the likelihood of more pre-trial notions being filed, it marks a significant improvement and brings with it the potential so slowly start repairing the damage done to KPK over the last three months.

Commentary today from the DPR revealed that President Jokowi’s visit last week may not have fully repaired relations, as a number of members still resent their confirmation of Budi Gunawan being tossed aside and continue to weigh their options between actively supporting Haiti’s confirmation and exercising the option of a “pocket veto” which withholds support to prove a political point, but allows President Jokowi to inaugurate after the 20-day waiting period passes on Monday, April 20.

The DPR’s visit to Badrodin Haiti’s home today, although a tradition in the confirmation process, is cause for concern. Conducting a visit to an individual’s home as part of any “fit and proper” test is highly problematic in two regards – the first being that it undermines one of the primary purposes of a fit and proper test, which is to transparently evaluate a candidate’s qualifications for the position in full public view. Secondly, it is hard to avoid the impression of impropriety when discussion on such weighty matters takes place in a private residence.

Anti-Corruption Daily Digest: Update 2015-4-15 5:30 p.m. WIB