Three Former KPK Leaders Write To The National Police Chief Asking Firli Bahuri To Be Detained: Extortion Level Sadis

JAKARTA - A number of former leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission or the KPK have asked the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police to immediately detain Firli Bahuri, who has been a suspect in the alleged extortion and gratification case against the former Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo or SYL.

The request was submitted through a letter addressed to the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

The former KPK leaders include Abraham Samad, Saut Situmorang, and Mochammad Jasin. They are members of the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition together with ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana and PBHI Chairman Julius Hebrew.

"This letter contains appeals, requests, and requests to the Indonesian National Police and in this case, the National Police Chief to immediately detain Firli Bahuri and as soon as possible complete the ongoing legal processes," Abharam Samad told reporters, Friday, March 1.

According to him, there are several reasons the National Police must immediately detain Firli Bahuri. For example, the case involving the former chairman of the KPK for the 2019-2023 period has met the requirements for detention.

"In the Criminal Procedure Code itself, it is also explained in one article that the crimes that have been sentenced to 5 years above should be detained at the investigation level," he said.

Then, another reason is because the crime allegedly committed by Firli Bahuri in the form of extortion is considered dangerous.

In fact, when referring to the KPK Law, extortion is included in the category of the most sadistic crime.

"The article on extortion if in the KPK Law is one of the highest types of corruption crimes at the highest level, the most sadistic. Therefore, the suspect should not be allowed to roam outside because it can cause social impacts," said Abraham.

For information, Firli Bahuri was named a suspect based on the results of the case title conducted on Wednesday, November 22.

Several pieces of evidence that became the basis for determining the suspect, namely, foreign exchange documents worth Rp7.4 billion. There are also the results of the extraction of 21 cellphones.

However, Firli Bahuri has not yet been detained. Although, he is already a suspect.

For the development of the handling of this case, investigators are still completing the case file. A number of witnesses have been re-examined.

However, Firli Bahuri, who was also scheduled to provide additional information, never fulfilled it. It was noted that the chairman of the KPK for the 2019-2023 period was absent from the examination on February 6 and 26.

In this case, Firli Bahuri is suspected of being under Article 12 e or Article 12 B or Article 11 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 65 of the Criminal Code.