Regarding The Cancellation Of The Status Of The Former Deputy Minister Of Law And Human Rights Suspect, Nawawi: Why Yes, This Pretrial Judge?

Deputy Chairperson of the KPK, Nawawi Pomolango. (Tsa Tsia-VOI)

JAKARTA - The interim chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Nawawi Pomolango said his agency appreciated the cancellation of the status of suspect former Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights (Wamenkumham) Edward Sharif Omar Hiariej or Eddy Hiariej.

However, he assessed that the decision that was knocked by the South Jakarta District Court (PN) judges needed to be reviewed.

"Why is this pretrial judge, yes. We appreciate the independence of the judge in making a decision but we continue to study it," said Nawawi at the ACLC KPK Building, Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, Wednesday, January 31.

Nawawi felt it was necessary to conduct a study considering that the anti-corruption commission had used Article 44 of the KPK Law as the legal basis. However, South Jakarta District Court Tunggal Judge Estiono called Eddy's stipulation invalid because it was not in accordance with Article 184 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

"KPK has been using the SOP for 20 years like that and there are no problems," he said.

"If the problem is related to the evidence found during the investigation and ignoring Article 44, yes, we will fulfill it. It doesn't eliminate the substance of the case," continued Nawawi.

As previously reported, the KPK lost the pretrial lawsuit against Eddy Hiariej. This is because the sole judge decided to determine the suspect in the alleged bribery and gratification case was invalid.

"The judge reached the conclusion of the defendant's actions which determined the applicant as an invalid suspect and had legal force," said Judge Estiono, Tuesday, January 30.

In considering the decision, it is considered that the KPK does not have enough evidence in determining the suspect as regulated in Article 184 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).

Then, the judge assessed that the article used by the KPK for the determination of the suspect against Eddy Hiariej did not have binding legal force.

Meanwhile, the articles used by the KPK are Article 12 letter a or Article 12 letter b or Article 11 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Corruption in conjunction with Article 65 of the Criminal Code.

"The trial, in the exception, stated that the defendant's exception could not be fully accepted," said Judge Estiono.