Vaccine Polemic Juliari Batubara Et Al, KPK Chairman Firli: I Think It Deserves

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Firli Bahuri spoke again about the criticism of the provision of the COVID-19 vaccine for former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara and other KPK detainees. He said, anyone in the KPK deserves to be given vaccines without exception.

"I think it would be appropriate if we vaccinated KPK employees and all parties interacting at the KPK, including journalists," Firli said during his remarks during the signing of the cooperation agreement to eradicate corruption between the KPK and BUMN which was broadcast on KPK YouTube, Tuesday, March 2.

He also said that giving vaccines to prisoners was a form of implementing the highest law, namely public safety. Moreover, so far there have been 20 out of 64 KPK detainees who have been exposed to COVID-19 and they often interact with a number of parties including anti-graft commission employees.

So that this vaccination is deemed necessary to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in the KPK detention center. "If detainees are not vaccinated here, sir, the number of people who have contracted COVID-19 could be 31 percent and perhaps the highest, nowhere else except for the KPK," said Firli.

"Why, 20 out of 64 detainees contracted COVID-19 while these detainees have high interaction activity with investigators, public prosecutors, prosecutors with judges, lawyers, families," he added.

Previously reported, the KPK was in the spotlight because their detainees, including former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara, received the COVID-19 vaccination. Many parties question the reasons for corruption suspects / defendants to get vaccines because this injection is more needed by prisoners who are in detention centers with conditions that exceed their capacity.

The KPK held a mass vaccination activity for five days, starting from Thursday 18 February to 23 February and targeting all parties, including prisoners in detention centers (remand centers).

If the reason for giving this vaccine is so that KPK prisoners do not catch COVID-19, then tens of thousands of detainees from the police, prosecutors and courts in thousands of locations throughout Indonesia must also receive the same vaccine. This is because they also have the same legal status as the corruption suspects detained at the KPK detention center.

It is far more important to vaccinate the 250 thousand prisoners in overcapacity prisons. The reason is, if someone is infected with COVID-19, the cluster of transmission can occur on a large scale.