Call Edhy And Juliari Corruption Cannot Be Sentenced To Death, Komnas HAM: Corruption Is Not A Serious Human Rights Violation

Former Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P Batubara. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) said that perpetrators of corruption cannot be punished by death. This is because punishing a corruptor is tantamount to violating international regulations which assess that corruption is not included as the most serious crime or serious human rights violation.

"The death penalty is only permitted for crimes called the most serious crimes," said Komnas HAM Chairman Ahmad Taufan Damanik in an online discussion broadcast on YouTube, Sunday, February 21.

He then explained that based on international rules, there are only four crimes that are classified as gross human rights violations and are punishable by death, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, aggression and war crimes.

"Corruption, drugs and others are not included in that," he said.

Thus, he considered the application of the death penalty to two former ministers in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, namely the former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo and former Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara, which could cause controversy, especially in the international arena.

Taufik agreed that the death penalty for corruption perpetrators in the midst of a pandemic was permitted under the applicable regulations. He even said, based on the results of the Judicial Review (JR) at the Constitutional Court some time ago, the death penalty was considered not to violate the 1945 Constitution.

"But this is not in line with global legal statements, although it still provides room for countries that still recognize that the death penalty can be applied to the most serious crime," said Taufik.

So, he asked that the discourse on the death penalty be carefully considered. Execution of corruptors should not be carried out simply because of emotion.

"We need to discuss it in the context of expediency, and must think about sentiment. Because often ideas like this are in order to capture angry public sentiment," he said.

As previously reported, Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights (Wamekumham) Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej said that former Social Minister Juliari Batubara and former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo are very likely to be sentenced to death. He reasoned that both could be sentenced to death for engaging in corrupt practices in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and taking advantage of their positions.

"These two former ministers (Edhy Prabowo and Juliari Batubara, ed) committed acts of corruption which were later exposed to the KPK OTT. For me they deserve to be prosecuted for Article 2 Paragraph 2 of the Corruption Criminal Act (Tipikor) which amounts to death penalty," he said. Omar at an event some time ago.

"So those two are burdensome and that is more than enough with Article 2 Paragraph 2 of the Corruption Act," he added.

Edhy and Juliari's corruption

It is known that the former Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, is a suspected recipient of bribes related to the export of lobster fries or seeds. The suspect's determination was made after he was caught in a hand-catching operation (OTT) after returning from a visit to the United States.

In the case of the export bribery of shrimp fry or lobster seeds, Edhy Prabowo was named a suspect in receiving bribes along with five other people, namely: Stafsus Minister of KKP Safri (SAF) and Andreau Pribadi Misanta (APM); Management of PT Aero Citra Kargo (PT ACK) Siswadi (SWD); The staff of the wife of the Minister of KKP, Ainul Faqih, and Amiril Mukminin (AM). Meanwhile, the giver of the bribe was the Director of PT Dua Putra Perkasa Pratama (PT DPPP) Suharjito (SJT).

Edhy was named a suspect because he was suspected of accepting bribes from companies that had been issued a lobster seed export license using a forwarder company and were kept in one account up to Rp9.8 billion.

Meanwhile, Juliari was named a suspect after the KPK arrested his subordinates in a silent operation. He was designated as a recipient of bribes related to the provision of COVID-19 social assistance (bansos) in the Jabodetabek area.

Not only that, the anti-graft commission also named four other suspects, namely the Commitment Making Officer at the Ministry of Social Affairs (PPK) MJS and AW as the recipient of the bribe and AIM and HS as the bribe giver.