Mahfud MD Make Sure There Is No Legal Politization In The Alleged Corruption Case Johnny G. Plate

Johnny G. Plate was taken from the Attorney General's Office after being named a suspect in the BTS tower corruption case worth Rp 8.02 trillion. (Between/Reno Esnir)

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD ensured that there was no legal politicization regarding the stipulation of Johnny G. Plate as a suspect in a corruption case.

"I make sure there is no legal politicization because I followed this case from the start," said Mahfud when met at the Bidakara Hotel, Jakarta, Thursday.

Mahfud also ensured that this was not related to political parties and was purely legal action, so he asked all parties to think positively.

"Let's just think positively. This is not aimed at the party, but a criminal act of alleged corruption which can later be judged openly in court," Mahfud said as quoted by Antara.

Mahfud also said that he had confirmed to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) that Johnny's determination as a suspect was not related to intervention or political maneuvers.

"I have confirmed it to the Attorney General's Office, 'Is there politics?', 'No'. Instead I said, if two pieces of evidence are fulfilled, yes, it will be upgraded to suspect status. Because if you meet the requirements, how come it is not appointed on the grounds of political conduciveness, then that's wrong," he said.

Mahfud explained that the project to provide 4G Base Transceiver Station (BTS) infrastructure and supporting infrastructure packages 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 BAKTI of the Ministry of Communication and Information are suspected of stalled.

"It is stalled and there are no items yet, the existing ones are stalled," said Mahfud.

Therefore, he said, the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) then conducted an examination.

"Initially, the Prosecutor's Office calculated the losses of around one, several trillion, but then the BPKP intervened. It turned out that starting from planning, starting from the appointment of consultants, the appointment of goods, mark ups and so on, now that is the reason," he said.

Previously, the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the AGO, Wednesday (17/5), named Johnny G. Plate as a suspect in the alleged corruption case in the BTS BAKTI procurement project of the Ministry of Communication and Information for the 2020-2022 period.

The head of the Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) at the Attorney General's Office, Ketut Sumedana, when announcing the suspect said that the state losses due to corruption reached Rp8.32 trillion.