Former Minister Of Agriculture SYL Was Officially Detained After Being Investigated By The KPK For Dozens Of Hours

Former Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) in the orange dream with his hands handcuffed at a press conference at the KPK, Friday, October 13. (Tsa Tsia-VOI)

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officially detained former Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) today, Friday, October 13. He was detained after undergoing examination for a dozen hours after being arrested on Thursday, October 12 evening. Deputy Chairman of the KPK Alexander Marwata said the detention was carried out starting today until November 1. This effort is a follow-up after SYL was announced as a suspect in alleged extortion and gratification on Wednesday, October 11. "The investigative team detained the suspect SYL and the suspect MH for the first 20 days each," Alexander told reporters at a press conference at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta. Pantauan di lapangan, SYL dihadirkan dalam konferensi pers. Ia tampak bermopi orange dengan tangan terborgol.

In addition to detaining Syahrul, the KPK also detained the Director of Agricultural Equipment at the Ministry of Agriculture Muhammad Hatta. Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture Kasdi Subagyono has already been detained. As previously reported, Syahrul was named a suspect in alleged extortion and gratification. He is suspected of extorting his employees by requiring to pay deposits every month. This extortion was said by the KPK to be carried out with the help of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture Kasdi Subagyono and the Director of Agricultural Equipment of the Ministry of Agriculture Muhammad Hatta. The nominal that is set by Syahrul and must be deposited by echelon I-II employees is around 4,000-10,000 US dollars. It is believed that the money collected does not only come from the realization of the Ministry of Agriculture's budget inflated or mark-ups but from vendors working on projects. The money is given in cash, transfers or goods.