No Need For Audit, KPK Supervisory Board Confirms Firli Bahuri And Team Are Not Lying About The Search For Harun Masiku

KPK Building/Photo: VOI

JAKARTA - Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) some time ago asked the Supervisory Board of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to audit the KPK leadership regarding the search for their fugitive, Harun Masiku. However, this request was deemed unnecessary because Firli Bahuri and the team were deemed not to have lied about their hard work in finding the former PDI-P candidate.

The chairman of the KPK Supervisory Board, Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean, said that the audit requested by ICW regarding the delay in the search for Harun Masiku was deemed unnecessary. The reason, they have known how the search process.

"If he (KPK) does the activity, we know it, so it's not a lie," said Tumpak in a press conference broadcast on the Indonesian KPK YouTube, Tuesday, January 18.

Tumpak said that his team will continue to monitor the movement of Harun's search team. The reason is that each movement will begin with a request for permission from the KPK Supervisory Board.

"They first asked our permission to conduct house-to-house searches. We know that," he said.

Not only that, but Tumpak also said that his party always asked for the latest developments regarding the search for fugitives from the KPK. Including the search for Harun Masiku, who is a suspect for giving bribes to former Commissioner of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Wahyu Setiawan.

"If we do an audit, of course, we don't. But we have been asking the leadership since 2020. In fact, we always ask why, where is the problem," said Tumpak.

For information, there are currently four fugitives from the anti-corruption commission that are being pursued. They are Harun Masiku who has been on the run since 2020; Surya Darmadi who is a fugitive since 2019; Izil Azhar has been fugitive since 2018; and Kirana Kotama who has been a fugitive since 2017.

Regarding the pursuit of Harun, Deputy Chairperson of the KPK, Nurul Ghufron, said that his party would try to arrest them after the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

"What is clear is that the KPK is committed, not only to Harun Masiku but for all of us, we will immediately carry out arrests after the COVID-19 subsides," said KPK Deputy Chair Nurul Ghufron as quoted from the Indonesian KPK YouTube, Thursday, December 30.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairperson of the KPK, Alexander Marwata, said that Harun's whereabouts are currently unknown. He said there was no information from the search team.

"What is clear to the leadership is that there is no information regarding the whereabouts of the person concerned," said KPK Deputy Chair Alexander Marwata to reporters quoted on Friday, December 31.

Even so, the KPK has tried to ask for help from a number of parties to find Harun, including NCB Interpol. However, Alexander admitted that there was no incoming information regarding Harun's whereabouts.

"No, not yet (there is information from Interpol, ed)," he said.

Recalling the journey of the Harun Masiku case

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Harun Masiku as a suspect in giving bribes to KPU Commissioner Wahyu Setiawan since January 2020. This bribery was carried out so that he would have the convenience of sitting as a member of the DPR RI through time shifts or PAW.

Harun's escape began when the KPK carried out an arrest operation regarding this case on January 8, 2020. In the silent operation, the KPK named four suspects, namely Harun Masiku, Wahyu Setiawan, former Bawaslu Member Agustiani Tio Fridelina, and Saeful Bahri.

However, Harun, who was not caught by OTT, is unknown. He reportedly fled to Singapore and is said to have returned to Indonesia.

This case stems from the death of a PDIP candidate named Nazarudin Kiemas. In July 2019, the party bearing the bull symbol filed a lawsuit for judicial review of Article 54 of KPU Regulation Number 3 of 2019 concerning Voting and Counting to the Supreme Court (MA).

The application was then granted and as a determinant of the interim replacement (PAW), the party bearing the bull symbol then sent a letter to the KPU to designate Harun as Nazarudin's replacement.

However, the KPU instead appointed Riezky Aprilia as a replacement for the brother-in-law of the late PDI-P General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri. The reason is clear, Riezky's vote is under Nazarudin or in second place for the South Sumatra I electoral district.

Lobbying was then carried out so that Harun could become a member of the legislature. Seeing this gap, Wahyu Setiawan as the KPU commissioner said that he was ready to help as long as there were operational funds of IDR 900 million and the transaction was carried out in two stages in the middle and end of December 2019.