Kaleidoscope 2020: Number Of KPK OTTs Has Decreased

Ilustrasi (Ilham Amin / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is considered to have decreased performance in the prosecution sector. Because, during the year during the leadership of the KPK Chair for the 2019-2023 period, Firli Bahuri, there were only 7 arrests (OTT) to ensnare 37 corruption suspects.

During Firli's leadership period, a number of names were arrested and named as suspects, including former Commissioner for General Elections (KPU) Wahyu Setiawan, former Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo to former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara.

This figure is calculated to be less than the silent operation carried out in the first year of the 2016-2019 period of KPK Chairman Agus Rahardjo. At that time, during his tenure during his tenure, the anti-graft commission succeeded in conducting OTT 17 times and named 58 suspects from various elements such as DPD Chairman Irman Gusman to DKI Jakarta DPRD member Mohammad Sanusi.

Illustration (Ilham Amin / VOI)

The following is a list of officials who were arrested by the KPK under the leadership of Firli Bahuri:

1. Sidoarjo Regent Saiful Ilah

The Regent, who was named a suspect in a bribery case related to an infrastructure project in Sidoarjo Regency, became the first official to be caught in a silent operation during Firli's leadership. Saiful Ilah was arrested by the KPK on January 7 in Sidoarjo with dozens of other people.

In this case, the KPK also named a number of officials within the Public Works Office in Sidoarjo Regency as suspects for receiving bribes, namely SST, JTE, and SSA. Meanwhile, the KPK appointed Ibnu Ghopur and Totok Sumedi as the bribes.

The KPK also confiscated evidence in the form of money worth Rp1.8 billion and in this case, Saiful was sentenced to a three-year sentence.

2. KPU commissioner Wahyu Setiawan

On January 8, the KPK conducted an OTT on Wahyu at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten. He was later named a suspect in receiving bribes in connection with the determination of the interim replacement (PAW) for members of the 2019-2024 DPR RI which involved PDI-P candidate Harun Masiku who escaped and his whereabouts are unknown until now.

In this case, the KPK said, Wahyu received a bribe of Rp. 900 million to help Harun become a member of the DPR to replace Nazarudin Kiemas who died.

Apart from Wahyu, the KPK also named other suspects, namely former members of the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) who are also confidants, namely Agustiani Tio Fridelina as recipients of bribes and Harun Masiku and Saeful Bahri who are said to be private but are PDIP cadres as suspected bribes.

3. East Kutai Regent Ismunandar

The regional head was caught by the KPK OTT while he was at a hotel in Jakarta on July 2. Apart from Ismunandar, the KPK also arrested dozens of other people, including the Chairman of the East Kutai DPRD, Encek Unguria, who is also his wife.

Furthermore, the KPK named Ismunandar as a suspect in a bribery case related to infrastructure work in the East Kutai Regency in 2019-2020 with his wife, Encek and six other people. Not only that, the investigation team also confiscated evidence in the form of cash worth Rp170 million, several savings books with a total balance of Rp.4.8 billion and certificates of deposit as much as Rp1.2 billion.

Currently, Ismunandar and other suspects have not been sentenced and the case is still in court.

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4. Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo

Edhy became the first minister in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet to be arrested by the KPK. He was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten upon arrival from Honolulu, Hawaii, United States after a work visit on November 25.

At that time the anti-graft commission team arrested 17 people, including Edhy's wife, who is also a member of the House of Representatives Commission V Iis Rosita Dewi.

After carrying out an intensive examination, Edhy and six other people, namely Stafsus Minister KP Safri and Andreau Pribadi Misata; management of PT Aero Citra Kargo Siswandi; Edhy's wife's staff, Ainul Faqih; Amiril Mukminin; and PT Dua Putra Perkasa Director Suharjito named as suspects in the alleged bribery case related to the export of lobster fries or seeds.

In this case, Edhy is suspected of receiving bribes related to the lobster seed export permit of up to Rp9.8 billion. This money is even said to have been used to shop for various luxury items such as Rolex watches, Tumi and Luis Vuitton luggage bags, Hermes bags, Jacob n Co watches, to clothes and road bikes.

The KPK is still investigating this case while Edhy has been replaced by the new Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, namely Sakti Wahyu Trenggono.

5. Mayor of Cimahi Ajay Muhammad Priatna

Two days later, on November 27 to be precise, the KPK conducted another silent operation and arrested Ajay in Bandung, West Java, along with 9 other people.

After intensive examination, the KPK named Ajay a suspect in receiving bribes in a case related to a permit to build a hospital in Cimahi, West Java. Meanwhile, as the giver of bribes, the KPK appointed the Commissioner of the Kasih Bunda General Hospital with the initials HY.

During this silent operation, the KPK then confiscated Rp. 425 million in cash and financial documents from the hospital.

6. Banggai Laut Regent Wenny Bukamo

Wenny, who was an incumbent candidate in the 2020 Pilkada, was arrested by the KPK in Banggai, Central Sulawesi on December 3. He was named a suspect in accepting bribes because he allegedly ordered his confidants to make agreements with partners working on a number of infrastructure projects in Banggai Laut Regency.

Furthermore, the fee from working on the project is used for purposes in the elections, including to provide dawn attacks.

In this arrest operation, the KPK found Rp2 billion in cardboard boxes, savings books, check heads, and several project documents. Apart from that, the KPK also named five other people as suspects.

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7. Commitment Making Officer (PPK) of the Ministry of Social Affairs Matheus Joko Santoso

Before determining the Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Juliari Peter Batubara as a suspect in receiving bribes, the KPK first arrested PPK of the Ministry of Social Affairs Matheus Joko Santoso on December 6.

Furthermore, the anti-corruption commission named a number of suspects, including Juliari, who surrendered on December 7 at around 02.00 WIB. In this case, Juliari and two PPK officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs Matheus and Adi Wahyono were appointed as recipients of bribes related to the provision of social assistance for COVID-19 in the Greater Jakarta area.

This case began with the provision of social assistance in the form of basic food packages within the Ministry of Social Affairs worth Rp. 5.9 trillion with a total of 272 contracts implemented in two periods.

Then, this PDIP politician appointed Matheus and Adi as PPK. In project implementation, both of them did it by direct appointment of partners. 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.

Matheus and Adi then made work contracts with several suppliers as partners for providing social assistance in May-November 2020. The partners chosen were AIM, HS, and PT Rajawali Parama Indonesia aka PT RPI which allegedly belonged to Matheus.

In this case, the KPK then suspected that Juliari received a fee of Rp. 8.2 billion for the implementation of the first period of social assistance package. Meanwhile, in the second implementation, he allegedly received a fee of Rp.8.8 billion which was used for his personal interests.

Despite successfully arresting two ministers in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, the KPK's performance was in the spotlight. Not only that, this anti-graft commission has decreased the level of public trust.

Based on a number of survey results collected by VOI from various sources, the level of public trust in anti-graft has indeed decreased. One of them is the results of a survey from the Political Indicator Institute. In October, this survey institution noted that the level of public trust in the KPK had decreased by 73.2 percent. In fact, in February the figure reached 81.3 percent.

Illustration (Ilham Amin / VOI)

Meanwhile, in the agenda of 'One-Year Evaluation of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Quasi-Corruption Eradication', Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) assesses that the field of prosecution for anti-corruption institutions KPK is experiencing problems. In fact, this field should be one of the ways to provide a deterrent effect on perpetrators of corruption.

"During the period of one year of Firli Bahuri's leadership, the KPK has had many problems in the aspect of prosecution," said ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana as quoted from the webinar posted on ICW Facebook.

One aspect of the enforcement that he highlighted was the drastic drop in the OTT number from previous years. Even though he succeeded in arresting two ministers in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet for the 2019-2024 period, however, the OTT that was carried out in the Firli Bahuri era was only seven times.

Meanwhile, when compared to 2019, the KPK succeeded in conducting 21 OTTs, 2018 there were 30 OTTs carried out, 2017 there were 19 OTTs, and 2016 there were 17 OTTs.

"Even then, one hand arrest is still a problem because the culprit cannot be caught by the KPK," he said referring to a KPK fugitive, Harun Masiku.

Kurnia assessed that the decline in the OTT was due to the fact that the majority of KPK leaders in this period often criticized this pattern of prosecution, including Firli Bahuri. It is known, during the fit and proper test of the candidate for leadership of this period at the Indonesian Parliament, Firli admitted that he was sad if the OTT continued and considered that there was something wrong with the holding of this operation.

"We know, sir, that many people have been arrested because of OTT. Sorry, because there are so many OTTs. I am sad, sir, seeing it. That means we have something to do," said Firli at the time.

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Not only Firli, Nurul Ghufron, who is now the deputy chairman of the KPK, also called this silent operation a mere entertainment and preferred to take precautions.

"As long as we are able to prevent it, we will prevent it. But if we don't want to, we will arrest it. So don't wait for the OTT KPK or send it to a corrupt prison. So OTT is just entertainment. As long as preventive measures are carried out but still stubborn, we will arrest them, "he said.

So that in reflection of this, Kurnia assessed that it would be natural that in the future the number of silent operations carried out by the KPK would decrease. "Because of what, if we look again at the working process of the KPK under the leadership of the current five commissioners, then we can find statements from the KPK leadership who have always criticized the arrest of this hand due to Firli Bahuri's statement when carrying out a fit and proper test. in the DPR, "he said.

A number of other homework that has not been completed

Furthermore, still in the same webinar, Kurnia highlighted the resolution of large outstanding cases in the era of Firli's leadership. At least, there were several cases that he touched on, such as corruption in the procurement of e-KTP which cost the state Rp. 2.3 trillion and the issuance of certificates of payment to Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) obligors with a state loss of Rp. 4.58 trillion.

Not only that, other cases that he touched on were the case of the construction of a sports training and education center in Hambalang with a state financial loss of IDR 463 billion and the case of bailout or bailout of Bank Century with a state financial loss of IDR 7.4 trillion.

"Under Firli Bahuri's leadership, the Corruption Eradication Commission has practically not touched on major cases that have been in arrears in the anti-graft agency," he said.

In addition, he criticized the increasing number of fugitives for corruption in the era of KPK leadership in Volume V. Of the five fugitives who have not been arrested, there are two that are unclear in the Firli Bahuri era, namely Harun Masiku and Samin Tan.

Finally, he also questioned the authority to supervise and take over cases that were not used by the KPK in the dispute over the Djoko Tjandra case which was handled by the Attorney General's Office and the Police.

"The actions of the Corruption Eradication Commission at that time were limited to only supervising, but based on several considerations, for example the handling was aimed at protecting the real perpetrators or because of obstacles due to interference by power, anti-graft institutions could take over all cases," he said.

In connection with a number of matters mentioned above, VOI has contacted KPK Deputy Chairmen Nawawi Pomolango and Nurul Ghufron to ask for responses. It's just that, until this news was written, both of them did not answer the short messages sent.

Meanwhile, Acting KPK spokesman for the field of prosecution Ali Fikri said that his party appreciated the public's assessment. However, for a more complete answer, he asked all parties to wait for the year-end report to be submitted by the KPK.

"At the end of 2020, we will convey the full performance of the KPK on a yearly basis and at that time we will deliver data related to the results of this work," he said.

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