ICW Hope No Name Disappeared From Juliari's Indictment In Bansos Bribes

KPK Building (Wardhany Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) hopes that no name will be lost in the indictment of former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara which will be read out by the Prosecutor of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Wednesday, April 21. This trial was conducted regarding the bribery for the provision of social assistance (bansos) for COVID-19 at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"Considering that the Juliari trial will be held on Wednesday, ICW reminds one important thing, that names should not be lost again in the indictment," said ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadana in a written statement to reporters, Tuesday, April 20.

This warning was conveyed, because on the two Juliari bribery charges that were previously tried, namely Ardian IM and Harry Sidabuke, a number of names were missing. Including the names of former Deputy Chairman of Commission VIII DPR RI Ihsan Yunus and his intermediary, Agustri Yogasmara.

Even though these two names were explicitly involved in this bribery case based on the reconstruction carried out by KPK investigators.

Thus, the KPK public prosecutors have an obligation to explain in detail this case through an indictment that will be read out. "It is important to remember that the objective requirement of the indictment as stipulated in Article 143 of the Criminal Procedure Code is to explain accurately, clearly and completely a criminal act committed by the defendant," he said.

"For this reason, it is the duty of the public prosecutor to explain the details of this case in the indictment, instead of joining in a gang by eliminating the names and roles of other parties," Kurnia added.

Previously, the KPK had transferred the case files of former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara to the Jakarta Corruption Court. He will then be tried on Wednesday, April 21 with his former subordinates, namely the Ministry of Social Affairs Commitment Making Officer (PPK) Matheus Joko Santoso and Adi Wahyono.

This case stems from a hand-catching operation (OTT). At that time, the KPK named a number of suspects related to the alleged corruption case of social assistance (bansos) food packages for COVID-19 treatment in the Greater Jakarta area, including former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara.

Apart from Juliari, the KPK also named four other suspects, namely the Commitment Making Officer (PPK) at the Ministry of Social Affairs Matheus Joko Santoso and Adi Wahyono as the bribe recipients and Andrian IM and Harry Sidabuke as the bribes.

This case began when Juliari appointed two commitment-making officials (PPK) Matheus Joko Santoso and Adi to carry out this project by directly appointing partners. The KPK suspects that it was agreed that there was a fee from the work package that partners had to pay to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

As for the fee for each COVID-19 social assistance package that Matheus and Adi agreed to, it was IDR 10,000 from a value of IDR 300 thousand. From this act, Juliari is then suspected of receiving money amounting to Rp. 17 billion from the two periods of the provision of basic food assistance assistance.