KPK Evaluated Not to Fully Map the Importation of Customs and Excise Cases 

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is appreciated for successfully uncovering the practice of alleged bribes for imports worth jumbo through a hand-in-hand operation (OTT) on February 4. However, investigators are considered to need to read the entire network map of the case in its entirety so as not to be trapped in a narrow focus.

The KPK has named six suspects. They are the Director of DJBC Enforcement Rizal, the Head of the Intelligence Sub-Directorate Sisprian Subiaksono, the Head of Intelligence Orlando Hamonangan, and three senior executives of PT Blue Ray Cargo, namely John Field, Andri, and Dedy Kurniawan.

The value of the alleged bribes that flowed is said to have reached around Rp. 61.3 billion in the form of Singapore dollars. In addition, investigators also investigated the alleged provision of luxury facilities worth Rp. 1.8 billion.

"The KPK has taken a big step. But I see that there are some important parts that have started to disappear from the construction of the case after OTT," said Gautama Wiranegara, a specialist in counter-intelligence analysis, in Jakarta, Thursday, May 21.

Gautama assessed that there were a number of initial findings that are now beginning to rarely appear in the construction of cases, one of which is related to color-coded documents such as "Blue List", "Brown List", to "Old Brown". According to him, in the perspective of intelligence analysis, color codes are not just ordinary administrative terms.

"At the beginning of the investigation and search, the term color appeared in the public. But when the indictment was read, the dominant thing was only the connection with blue or Customs. The question is, where are the other colors," he said.

"Is there really not enough evidence, or is there a narrowing of the focus of the investigation? The public has a right to know whether the entire network map has been read or only a part of it," he said.

The spotlight was also directed at the KPK's move to summon additional witnesses such as Gito Huang and search the houses and containers belonging to Heri Setiyono in Semarang, Central Java. Both of them are still witnesses.

According to Gautama, the summoning of additional witnesses in the development phase of the case is legally valid. However, the KPK is considered necessary to explain the context of its development so as not to create speculation in the public.

"KPK must explain what the case is being developed, what the relationship of the witness to the case, and the relevance of his testimony. If not, the public can see it as speculation or psychological pressure," explained Gautama.

He also highlighted the search of containers at the Tanjung Emas Port which had previously been associated with the term prohibited and restricted goods or lartas.

According to Gautama, the goods in the container are vehicle spare parts with HS Code 8714 which are generally included in the legal category so that the status of lartas must be proven through clear technical regulations.

"Without regulatory foundations such as Permendag, SNI, or used goods provisions, the term lartas is still limited to initial assumptions. If it is not proven, the goods must be returned and the public needs to get an explanation," he said.

From the perspective of counterintelligence, Gautama reminded of the risk of tunnel vision investigation or investigations that are too focused on one point to the neglect of other nodes in the larger network.

"If the KPK only focuses on one knot, then other knots can survive. The pattern can appear again with a different name, a different port, but the same pattern," he concluded.