KPK Examines 2 Supreme Court Justices, Investigate Cases Of Gratification And TPPU Gazalba Saleh

Illustration of the KPK building in Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta. (ANTARA-Fianda Sjofjan Rassat

JAKARTA - Investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) summoned two Supreme Court judges and clerks (MA) to be examined as witnesses in connection with the alleged money laundering case (TPPU) with the suspect former Supreme Court judge Gazalba Saleh (GS).

"Today (March 25) at the KPK's Red and White Building, the investigative team has scheduled the summons and examination of Desnayeti and Yohanes Priyana as Supreme Court Justices of the Republic of Indonesia and Supreme Court Registrar Heru Pramono," said Head of the KPK News Section Ali Fikri when confirmed in Jakarta, Monday, March 25, confiscated by Antara.

However, Ali has not provided further information about what information the KPK investigation team will investigate in the examination.

Former Supreme Court judge Gazalba Saleh was previously acquitted in a bribery case in the Supreme Court, but the KPK later again named Gazalba as a suspect in the alleged case of receiving gratuities and money laundering offenses.

On Thursday, November 30, 2023, the KPK again detained former Supreme Court Justice Gazalba Saleh (GS) in a case of alleged corruption in the form of receiving gratuities and money laundering offenses related to case management at the Supreme Court.

"Regarding the need for the investigation process, the investigative team detained the suspect GS for the first 20 days, from November 30 to December 19, 2023 at the KPK Detention Center," said Asep Guntur Rahayu, Director of KPK's Investigation at the KPK's Red and White Building, South Jakarta, Thursday.

Asep said Gazalba Saleh was suspected of having taken advantage of his position as Supreme Court Justice of the Indonesian Supreme Court since 2017 to investigate the contents of the verdict that accommodates and benefits certain litigants and file legal remedies in the Supreme Court.

From the consolidation of the contents of the verdict, Gazalba accepted the giving of a sum of money as a form of receiving gratuities, including for a decision in the cassation case with the defendant former Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo, Rennier Abdul Rahman Latief and a review of the convict Jafar Abdul Gaffar.

As initial evidence where in the period 2018 to 2022 it was found that there was a flow of money in the form of receiving gratuities amounting to around Rp. 15 billion.

For the receipt of the gratuity in question, GS then purchased various assets with economic value, including the purchase of cash for a housing unit located in one of the clusters in the Cibubur area, East Jakarta at a price of Rp7.6 billion; then the purchase of a plot of land along with buildings in the Tanjung Barat area, Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, at a price of Rp5 billion.

Investigators also found that there was a exchange of money in several money changers using the identity of other people whose value reached rupiah.

Gazalba has never reported the acceptance of this gratuity at the KPK within 30 working days since it was received and did not include other economical-valued assets in the State Administrators Wealth Report (LHKPN).

For his actions, Gazalba Saleh was charged with Article 12B of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code.