KPK Waits For Rehabilitation Decree To Release Ira Puspadewi

Acting Deputy For Enforcement And Execution Of The KPK Asep Guntur Rahayu/PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is waiting for President Prabowo Subianto's rehabilitation decree to be able to issue the President Director of PT ASDP for the 2017-2024 period Ira Puspadewi and his friends from detention.

"We are still waiting for the decision letter," said Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Asep Guntur Rahayu at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Tuesday, November 25 evening.

Asep explained that his institution needed to wait for a letter from the Ministry of Law, such as when the release of PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto after receiving amnesty.

After the letter is received, continued Asep, the KPK and its ranks will follow up.

"Because later there will be a decision letter from the KPK leadership to issue the three directors (ASDP) who are currently litigating, which we have detained," he said.

"Later, colleagues can follow the process, yes. So there is a process, maybe we'll just wait for the officers from the Ministry of Law to deliver the decree," said Asep, who also serves as Director of KPK Investigations.

As previously reported, the Jakarta Corruption Court Panel of Judges sentenced Ira Puspadewi as the former Director of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry. He was found guilty in the corruption case of the acquisition and business cooperation (KSU) of PT Jembatan Nusantara by PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry.

Apart from Ira, former Director of Planning and Development of PT ASDP, Harry Muhammad Adhi Caksono, and former Director of Commercial and Services of PT ASDP, Muhammad Yusuf Hadi was sentenced to 4 years and a fine of Rp250 million. They were found guilty and committed corruption together as the second alternative indictment of Article 3 Jo Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999.

However, the trial of this case became the spotlight after the Chief Justice of the Panel of Judges, Sunoto stated that Ira Puspadewi et al should have been acquitted or onslag. He took the option of dissenting opinion because the acquisition of PT JN by ASDP was not entirely convincing as a criminal act of corruption.

Sunoto also said that the punishment for Ira Puspadewi et al also had a negative impact on the business world, especially SOEs. The board of directors can be afraid to make decisions for fear of experiencing a similar fate.

"The best professional-professional will think many times to accept the leadership position in BUMN because they are worried that any non-optimal business decisions can be criminalized," Sunoto said in a verdict hearing, Thursday, November 20.