Corruption Defendant Asabri Heru Hidayat Considers Death Sentence Demand Zalim

JAKARTA - The President Commissioner of PT Trada Alam Minera Heru Hidayat assessed that the death sentence demanded by the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) against him was unjust.

"It is clear that the death charge that was read by the prosecutor last week was a form of 'abuse of power' that was very unjust. The prosecutor's authority to prosecute was instead used to deviate from the legal corridor," said Heru's legal adviser, Kresna Hutauruk while reading the memorandum of defense (pleidoi) for his client, at the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) quoted by Antara, Monday, December 13.

In Monday's trial, December 6, the Attorney General's Office demanded the death penalty for Heru Hidayat, because he was found guilty of corruption which resulted in state losses of Rp. 22.788 trillion from the management of PT Asabri (Persero) funds and money laundering. In the lawsuit, it is stated that Heru Hidayat received a profit of Rp. 12,643 trillion.

"I really don't understand what is the reason for the prosecutor to carry out such cruelty. Is it because of personal ambition. Is it just seeking fame. Is there a grudge against me or certain parties. Do you want to show off your power. Or do you want to put pressure on me?" to certain parties," said Krishna.

According to Kresna, whatever the hidden reasons the Public Prosecutor has, the prosecutor has been blinded by his conscience so that he abuses his authority, even to the point of sacrificing human life.

"I remember when in the investigation process the prosecutor repeatedly shouted in the media that I had committed a crime of money laundering by investing in bitcoin. The first time I heard about this, I was really surprised because I had never invested in bitcoin," said Kresna who read the defense of his client.

In fact, according to Kresna, there has never been a discussion about bitcoin since the reading of the prosecutor's indictment until today's trial. However, Heru's name is considered to have been damaged in the public eye because he was repeatedly framed for money laundering in bitcoin investments.

"Prosecutors have also carried out public opinion in the investigation process related to state losses. Since the beginning of February the prosecutor has claimed state losses in the Asabri case amounting to Rp. 23.7 trillion. Even though as revealed in the trial, the BPK Examining Team has just received a letter of assignment to carry out calculations state losses on February 26, 2021, where the BPK then only issued the Examination Result Report (LHP) on May 17, 2021," said Kresna.

In the restructuring process that Heru and Piter Rasiman carried out, Heru said Piter Rasiman first spent money to buy Asabri's shares or Asabri's mutual funds that were experiencing a decline, so that Asabri had the funds to buy replacement shares and to "subscribe" to the restructuring mutual funds. .

"In other words, Asabri's money which is used for investment in shares and mutual funds in the context of restructuring is indirectly money from Piter Rasiman," said Kresna.

Heru, in the plea read by Krishna, said that Asabri was poisoned by being bitten by a venomous snake, then Asabri asked for his help in sucking the poison.

"When I almost sucked the poison out of Asabri and there were signs of recovery from Asabri, the prosecutor immediately came and arrested me and slandered that I poisoned Asabri. Even though the venomous snake that bit Asabri still roams out there. Is it because of wild ambitions? blind so that prosecutors cannot distinguish who bit and who helped," said Kresna.

This shows how prosecutors can boast in the media about state losses, even though the BPK has not yet started carrying out its duties.

"Again, this action shows that the prosecutor has acted beyond his authority, only to lead public opinion so that my name and that of the other defendants have been branded bad in the community. It also raises a question for me whether the prosecutor deliberately issued this statement in order to pressure and force the BPK to obey his wishes," said Kresna, who read out Heru's defense.

After leading public opinion regarding state losses, the next "abuse of power" action taken by the prosecutor was to carry out reckless confiscations in the name of recovering state losses which the BPK had not even finished calculating.

"Reckless seizures were carried out on the assets of third parties that had nothing to do with this case, in fact the majority of these assets had been obtained by the third parties before this case was resolved and before I got to know Asabri," said Kresna.

In addition, some of the confiscated assets are assets of public companies or their subsidiaries where the majority of shareholders are the public.

"Even the confiscation action was followed by an auction of confiscated assets during the investigation under the pretext of expensive maintenance and maintaining the value of the assets. Whereas in other cases, the prosecutor can deposit the confiscated assets without the need to conduct an auction," said Kresna.

The auction has certainly harmed the owners of the assets, especially if in the decision later the assets are declared to have nothing to do with this case.

"The act of 'abuse of power' clearly did not only oppress me, but also third parties and the general public," said Kresna.