Maki: Lili Pintauli Should Be Self-aware, Not Follow The Tanjungbalai Bribery Case Involving M Syahrial

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Lili Pintauli was asked to be aware of not being involved in the investigation into the bribery case of the Mayor of Tanjungbalai M Syahrial. This should be done to prevent conflicts of interest when taking strategy.

In a trial held at the Medan Corruption Court, Monday, August 26, former KPK investigator Stepanus Robin Pattuju bluntly stated that the inactive Tanjungbalai Mayor Muhammad Syahrial admitted that he had received a call from Lili Pintauli regarding the case being investigated.

At that time, Stepanus was a witness for the defendant Muhammad Syahrial, who bribed himself in the amount of Rp. 1.695 billion so as not to raise the case of the alleged sale and purchase of positions at the Tanjungbalai City Government from investigation to investigation.

He said that Syahrial had asked for Lili's help. From her testimony, it was Lili who first called Syahrial and stated that the case file was on his desk.

"At the beginning, the defendant (Shahrial) said that she had just received a call from Mrs. Lili who said that 'Yal, how are you? Your file is on my desk,' Mrs. Lili conveyed to the defendant at that time," said Stepanus.

"Then the defendant told Mrs. Lili 'help ma'am', then after that, Mrs. Lili said 'Yes, I have met my person in Medan whose name is Fahri Aceh'," he added, recounting Syahrial's statement.

This fact was then responded to by the Coordinator of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI), Boyamin Saiman. He said that Lili should not interfere in the handling of the Tanjungbalai bribery case.

"This Mrs. Lili should not be involved in meetings related to the Tanjungbalai corruption and all cases, including the alleged involvement of the Deputy Speaker of the DPR RI Azis Syamsuddin," Boyamin told VOI, Tuesday, July 27.

He said that the Tanjungbalai bribery case related to the termination of the handling of this case was still long and could ensnare other parties. "In my opinion (Lili, ed) temporarily deactivates herself to wait for the trial process and does not participate in strategic decisions," said Boyamin.

"Legawa deactivated himself, did not participate in the handling of cases and his tail," added the anti-corruption activist.

Furthermore, Boyamin also hopes that the KPK Supervisory Board will immediately process the alleged ethical violations committed by Lili in this case. He even said that if the allegations were true then Lili should be given a severe punishment, namely being asked to resign from her position.

"Dewas must conduct an ethics trial and not delay the results. If I ask that this is a serious violation and the sanctions are dismissed, I am asked to resign," he said.

Previously, the KPK confirmed that it would investigate the alleged communication between Lili and Syahrial, as stated by Stepanus Robin Pattuju at the trial. Later, all information and facts will be confirmed in the agenda of the follow-up trial.

Not only that, this alleged communication will also be confirmed with M Syahrial and will be concluded at the end of the trial in the juridical analysis of the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, regarding the alleged ethical violation, the KPK Supervisory Board will hold an ethics session behind closed doors and will summon Lili next week. Member of the KPK Council, Syamsuddin Haris, emphasized that his party would not tolerate any ethical violations committed by any member of the KPK.

Anyone, including the leadership and supervisory board, will be punished if found guilty of violating ethics. "From the beginning the KPK Supervisory Board was committed to upholding the principle of zero tolerance for violators of the KPK code of ethics," said Syamsuddin.

He also ensured that the investigation into Lili's alleged ethical violation was currently ongoing. The alleged violation was reported by Novel Baswedan et al.

"The allegation of a violation of the code of ethics by one of the KPK leaders is in the process at the council," he concluded.