JAKARTA - After leading the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for three months, Firli Bahuri cs issued an order to stop investigations (SP3) on 36 cases that were being investigated. The anti-corruption agency said the issuance of SP3 was carried out in order to provide certainty of legal status for the parties in the case and fulfill the principles of openness and accountability to the public.
Regarding any cases whose investigations were terminated, the Acting Spokesperson for the KPK in the field of prosecution Ali Fikri did not specifically reveal them. However, according to him, this case was related to corruption in BUMN, the Ministry and members of the Indonesian Parliament.
"The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) confirms that it has stopped 36 cases at the investigation stage. We will further describe this in accordance with the principles of legal certainty, openness and accountability to the public as regulated in Article 5 of the KPK Law," Ali said in a written statement, Friday, February 21st.
The KPK general prosecutor (JPU) also stated that there were two reasons why the investigation into these 36 cases had been terminated. First, investigations of dozens of these cases have been carried out since 2011. Second, this case is deemed insufficient to advance to the level of investigation because it does not have sufficient evidence, it does not include corruption, and other reasons that can be justified legally.
Ali denied that the termination of the investigation into the corruption case had only occurred in the era of Firli Bahuri cs. He said, during Agus Rahardjo's leadership for the 2014-2019 period, there were hundreds of cases whose investigations had stopped. Moreover, the termination of this case is mandated by the new revised KPK law.
"We also need to convey, stopping cases at the investigation level is not a practice that has only been carried out at this time at the KPK. Data for the last 5 years since 2016 the KPK has stopped investigating a total of 162 cases," he said.
Apart from denying that this is the first time this has happened, Ali also confirmed that the case being terminated was not a case of alleged corruption in the divestment of PT Newmont which led to the name of KPK chairman Firli Bahuri. "I make sure, obviously not including that," he said.
It is known, in that case Firli's name was sticking out because he had met Tuan Guru Bajang (TGB) Muhammad Zainul Majdi who was the former Governor of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). When the meeting took place, Firli was serving as KPK Deputy for Enforcement.
On that occasion, Fikri also denied that his agency had stopped investigating several major cases currently being investigated, such as the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) corruption case, the Century Bank scandal, and the e-KTP megacorruption case that cost the state up to IDR 2.3 trillion. According to him, the investigation of this case will continue.
Anticipate abuse of power
Regarding the termination of the investigation of dozens of corruption cases, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) considers that Firli Bahuri cs should not commit abuse of power or abuse of power in this anti-corruption agency. Moreover, according to ICW researchers, Wana Alamsyah this abuse of authority might have occurred considering that Firli currently has the status of an active police officer.
"Do not let the KPK leadership abuse their power in deciding to terminate the case. Moreover, the KPK chairman is an active police force, so there is a concern that it will cause a conflict of interest when stopping the case, especially those suspected of involving elements of law enforcement," said Wana in a written statement to VOI, Friday, 21. February while adding that this case could be related to regional heads, law enforcement officials, and members of the legislature.
This researcher assesses that each case that will be stopped by the KPK must of course go through the existing mechanisms. Thus, Wana questioned whether there was a case title prior to determining the termination of the investigation into the corruption case. This is because each termination process should involve every element, from the investigation team, the investigation team, to the public prosecutor team.
"If the 36 cases are stopped by the KPK, have they gone through the case title mechanism?" asked him.
He also considered that the 36 cases that had been stopped by Firli Bahuri, who had just taken office, were too many. The reason was, based on KPK records, in the last five years there were only 162 cases whose investigations had been stopped. This means, in the era of Agus Rahardjo cs' leadership, the average number of cases terminated every month is around two cases.
"But since the new leadership was inaugurated (December 20, 2019), there have been 36 cases that have been terminated or around 18 cases per month," he said.
Wana also said that up to three months in office there had not been any cases that had actually been investigated by the leadership of the Firli era. According to Wana, the cases of the Sidoarjo Regent and the KPU Commissioner are just the legacy of the previous leadership.
"With the large number of cases terminated by the KPK during the investigation process, this strengthens the public's suspicion that the KPK's prosecution performance will drop sharply compared to the previous year," he concluded.
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