Johnny G Plate Alludes To 'Secret Letter' To Jokowi, Perpetrating Judge

JAKARTA - Chief Justice Dennie Arsan Fatrika interrupted former Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G Plate when mentioning a'secret letter' with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) during the trial of the alleged corruption case in the provision of Base Tranceiver Station (BTS) 4G infrastructure.

Johnny G Plate was originally presented as a witness for the defendants Galumbang Menak, Irwan Hermawan, and Mukti Ali.

It started when the public prosecutor (JPU) questioned the issue of letter number 506 that Johnny sent to Jokowi in July 2020. The letter contained a plan to accelerate the national digital transformation for the 2021 fiscal year and recommendations for the BTS 4G BAKTI Kominfo project using fiber optic and microwave transmissions.

Johnny then mentioned knowing the letter. In fact, it said the letter was confidential.

"Regarding this letter, sir, 4,000 BTS microwave, 200 BTS using fiber optics, you know, sir?" asked the prosecutor during a trial at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court, Wednesday, September 27.

"No, that's my secret letter to the President of the Republic of Indonesia," answered Johnny.

Then, the prosecutor again asked questions about the suitability of the contents of the letter with facts on the ground. John then admitted that he did not know about it

"Sir, the fact is this letter with facts on the ground?" asked the prosecutor.

"Oh, I don't know the facts on the pitch. But I want to add a little bit, my letter to the President is confidential. Communication at the center of state power is related to national digitization," said Johnny.

Not limited to that, Johnny again explained about the letter. It said the letter was a follow-up to Jokowi's direction during a cabinet meeting.

When Johnny explained about this, the prosecutor tried to interrupt. Because, that's not the question in question. However, Johnny kept chatting about the secret letter.

"That's not what I mean, sir," said the prosecutor

"I will continue first, sir, I apologize, so that it is clear because this is followed by the community," said Johnny.

Until finally, Chief Judge Dennie Arsan Fatrika cut Johnny's statement. The former Minister of Communication and Information was asked to only answer the questions.

"Witnesses, just answer what was asked. What was not asked was not necessary," said Chief Judge Dennie.