Pressure Appears To Hold Firli Bahuri, National Police Chief: Polda Metro Is Not In A Hurry

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the Polda Metro Jaya was not in a hurry to handle cases of alleged extortion and gratification against the former Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, by naming Firli Bahuri as a suspect.

He made this statement in response to the emergence of pressure for the police to immediately detain Firli Bahuri.

"Yes, the investigation is ongoing. I think the Metro Police will certainly conduct a careful examination and not rush," Sigit told reporters at the National Library, Jakarta, Monday, March 4.

Therefore, Sigit asked all parties to respect all steps taken by investigators in handling the case.

Apart from that, the National Police Chief emphasized that the Polda Metro Jaya was serious in handling cases that attracted a lot of public attention.

"Yes, we just respect it. But what is certain is that they are serious," said Sigit.

One of the pressures for the National Police to immediately carry out a number of former leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission or the KPK. The pressure was carried out by writing 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.

Abraham Samad said the reason behind Firli Bahuri's detention was because the crime allegedly committed by the Chairman of the KPK for the 2019-2023 period was considered dangerous.

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.

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.