KPK Leader Decides Not To Give Firli Legal Aid In SYL Extortion Case

Former KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri (DOK ANTARA)

The four leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) have decided not to provide legal assistance to the inactive KPK chairman Firli Bahuri. Discussions have been carried out through a leadership meeting today, Tuesday, November 28. It is known that Firli was named a suspect in the alleged extortion or acceptance of gratuities from former Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo. This case is handled by Polda Metro Jaya. "From the results of the discussion, the KPK leadership agreed not to provide legal assistance related to the investigation of the alleged corruption case that was being processed at the Polda Metro Jaya," said Head of the KPK News Section Ali Fikri to reporters at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Tuesday, November 28. "The discussion is confirmed to have complied with the regulatory reference," said Ali. One of them is Government Regulation (PP) on Rights, Finance, Positions, Protocol and Security Protection of KPK Leaders. "There is a provision there that legal assistance and security protection are provided in relation to the implementation of the duties and authorities of the KPK," he said. "The leadership meeting discussed it and concluded that the alleged criminal act that was being processed at Polda Metro Jaya was not in accordance with the provisions in the Government Regulation so that the KPK did not provide assistance," continued Ali. As previously reported, the Chairperson of the KPK, Nawawi Pomolango, said he considered many things in providing legal assistance to Firli Bahuri. One of them is the principle of not tolerateing corrupt practices within the institution. "We consider many things because we have a commitment this institution is an institution that must be zero tolerance rather than corruption issues," Nawawi said as quoted from the Indonesian KPK YouTube, Tuesday, November 28. "It will be part of our consideration whether to provide assistance or not to the person concerned," he continued.

Firli was officially named a suspect based on the results of the case title conducted on Wednesday, November 22. The police suspect he was involved in the extortion and acceptance of gratuities. Several pieces of evidence that became the basis for determining the suspect were foreign exchange documents worth Rp7.4 billion. Then, there were also the results of the extraction of 21 cellphones. In the case of alleged extortion and acceptance of gratuities, Firli was charged with Article 12e, 12B or Article 11 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the eradication of corruption in conjunction with Article 65 of the Criminal Code. Firli is threatened with life imprisonment.