Pretrial Suspects Of Corruption Investigation Of Health Assistance In Bengkulu Rejected

The sole judge of the Bengkulu District Court, Dwi Purwanti, read out the pretrial decision of the corruption case of the Kaur Regency BOK fund corruption case. ANTARA/Anggi Mayasari

BENGKULU - The Bengkulu District Court rejected the pretrial application submitted by Upa Labuhari (UL), a suspect in the obstruction case to the investigation into the alleged corruption of Health Operational Assistance funds in Kaur Regency. "Rejecting the pretrial application submitted by Upa Labuhari, the suspect in the case of the alleged corruption investigation of the Kaur Regency BOK funds," said Bengkulu District Court Single Judge Dwi Purwanti at a verdict hearing in Bengkulu City, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, November 7. The judge reasoned that the determination of UL as a suspect in the investigation obstacle was in accordance with applicable legal regulations. With this decision, the Special Criminal Prosecutor of the Bengkulu High Prosecutor's Office, Lie P. Setiawan, said that currently his party will focus on the subject matter of the case. Meanwhile, the attorney for the suspect UL, Zainul Idwan, was disappointed with the decision and said the judge did not respond at all to the testimony of the expert witnesses they presented. Even so, Zainul still respects the judge's decision and will also focus on defending his client in the subject matter of the case. Previously, the Bengkulu High Prosecutor's Office arrested UL, who is the number one lawyer and press card owner, related to the alleged corruption case of BOK funds in Kaur Regency. "There was one person who was detained and works as a lawyer. Previously, the suspect was examined as a witness in Jakarta and then detained on September 4, 2023," said Head of Investigation at the Bengkulu Attorney General's Office, Danang Prasetyo. The suspect UL was arrested for participating in obstructing the investigation into the alleged corruption case of the Kaur Regency BOK funds. He also claimed to be a journalist and not a fake lawyer. "I'm also a journalist, I'll explain later, just wait. It seems that if you have been named a suspect, you have become a criminal," said UL when he was named a suspect some time ago. In the alleged corruption case of BOK Kaur funds, the Bengkulu Attorney General's Office arrested five suspects, four of whom, namely RF (57), BSS (47), RNS (41), and AH (58) were arrested while in Jakarta. In the case of alleged obstruction to the investigation, the suspect is subject to Article 21 of Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.

The suspects BSS (47), RNS (41) and AH (58) previously received the money handed over by witnesses to the head of the public health center in Kaur Regency amounting to Rp920 million. The three suspects promised that the investigation into the BOK fund case in Kaur Regency could be stopped. During the arrest of the suspects, Bengkulu Attorney General's Office officers confiscated evidence in the form of cell phones, proof of transfers, receipts, and checks related to the handover of money.