Promise 57 Officers Fired By KPK: We Will Continue To Fight

JAKARTA - The inactive chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Employee Forum, Yudi Purnomo, has confirmed that dozens of employees who were fired at the end of September will continue to fight back. They will continue to fight through legal channels.

"Even though we haven't received the termination decree yet after we get it, we will take legal action", said Yudi in his statement, Thursday, September 16.

He said this resistance was carried out because the decision taken by the KPK leadership was not by the direction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) who asked TWK not to be the basis for his dismissal.

In addition, Yudi also said that the troubled TWK resulted in the dismissal of several KPK employees who had integrity and became a form of weakening the anti-corruption commission.

So, he hopes that President Jokowi can immediately take a stand regarding the TWK issue which led to the dismissal of dozens of employees. According to Yudi, Jokowi as the supreme commander can actually follow up because the current condition should not be allowed to happen.

"Conditions like this should not be allowed to continue. Why are anti-corruption fighters, investigators, investigators, and other employees who for decades have been eradicating corruption but in reality, they were dismissed on the grounds of TWK even though the president's directive last May made it clear that these 75 KPK employees cannot be dismissed", he said.

Similarly, the inactive Director of Socialization and Anti-Corruption Campaign, Giri Suprapdiono, who was also part of the 57 employees who were fired, has stated that he and his colleagues will take legal action.

"We will continue to fight & take legal action. We still have time until September 30, 2021", he said via a tweet on his Twitter account @girisuprapdiono.

It was previously reported that 57 employees who did not pass the TWK would be fired at the end of September. This decision was taken because they cannot become State Civil Apparatus (ASN) according to the mandate of the KPK Law Number 19 of 2019.

The KPK argues that their inability to become ASN is not due to laws and regulations such as Perkom KPK Number 1 of 2021 but because of the results of their assessment.

The anti-corruption commission also ensures that employees are given equal opportunities even if they have passed the age limit or have stopped being ASN before.

The employees who were declared no longer able to work at the KPK included senior KPK investigators Novel Baswedan and Ambarita Damanik, Chairman of the KPK Employee Forum Yudi Purnomo, KPK investigator Harun Al-Rasyid, and dozens of other names.