The KPK Supervisory Board Urged To Evaluate Firli Bahuri Et Al Regarding The Search For Harun Masiku

Aaron Days (Infocaleg.com)

JAKARTA - The arrest of former PDI-P candidate Harun Masiku has forced the Supervisory Board of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to evaluate Firli Bahuri along with four other leaders, including the Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Karyoto.

The pressure came from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Kurnia Ramadhana. According to him, an evaluation must be carried out because Harun has been away for too long and his search has not shown any significant results.

Harun is a suspect for giving bribes to former General Elections Commission (KPU) Commissioner Wahyu Setiawan to become a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives through the interim replacement (PAW) stage. He has been on the run since failing to be caught in a red-handed operation (OTT) in 2020.

"ICW recommends that the KPK Supervisory Board immediately intervene to resolve the polemic on the search for Harun Masiku by summoning and evaluating the performance of the Deputy for Enforcement and all KPK Commissioners," Kurnia said in a statement to reporters quoted on Wednesday, September 8.

Not only that, an evaluation must also be carried out because ICW's reasons given by Karyoto that Harun's search was constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic were far-fetched. The reason is that the KPK actually has a network with law enforcement in other countries to detect and confirm the whereabouts of the fugitive.

Furthermore, ICW also suspects that there are high-ranking officials at the KPK who are protecting Harun Masiku so that he is not prosecuted. "In fact, it is possible that high-ranking KPK officials are afraid to arrest them because they are directly related to certain political party elites. Simply put, if Harun is caught, the elite of the political party will also be dragged away," said Kurnia.

This suspicion, he continued, actually arose from the start when the officers were going to arrest Harun before he ran away. Kurnia said that when Harun was about to be arrested at the Police Science College (PTIK) and there was intimidation of KPK employees, there was no defense or protection from the KPK leadership.

In addition, a number of other incidents, such as the forcible termination of one of the investigators, Kompol Rossa, also colored the efforts to arrest Harun and the removal of a number of employees through the National Insight Test Assessment.

Thus, Kurnia emphasized that an evaluation must be carried out and if the results indicate an attempt to block Harun's search, legal action must be taken. "This person can be charged with Article 21 of the Anti-Corruption Law or obstruction of justice," said Kurnia.

Where is Harun Masiku's search for?

The KPK has so far not detailed the work that has been done to find Harun in the public spotlight. Most recently, Acting Spokesperson for the KPK for Enforcement, Ali Fikri, only assured that his party would continue to work to find the former candidate.

"KPK is still working seriously and is asking for help from various institutions at home and abroad to speed up the search," he told reporters, Monday, September 6.

In addition, he also asked anyone who knows information about the whereabouts of his fugitive to convey information to the KPK instead of making a fuss about it to the public. The reason is that this kind of thing can become a polemic in the community and hinder Harun's arrest.

"We ask any party who really knows his whereabouts (Harun Masiku, ed) at this time to immediately report to the KPK and other law enforcement officials, so that they can be followed up," said Ali.

Meanwhile, the Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Karyoto for some time said he was eager to immediately arrest Harun. However, his wish had to be put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, Harun is said to be no longer in Indonesia but abroad. "We want to go there and are confused because of how many years the pandemic has been," said Karyoto some time ago.

Recalling the journey of the Harun Masiku case

Harun Masiku was named as a suspect in giving bribes to KPU Commissioner Wahyu Setiawan in January 2020. This bribery was carried out so that he could easily sit as a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives through time shifts or PAW.

Harun's escape began when the KPK carried out an arrest operation regarding this case on January 8, 2020. In the silent operation, the KPK named four suspects, namely Harun Masiku, Wahyu Setiawan, former Bawaslu Member Agustiani Tio Fridelina, and Saeful Bahri.

However, Harun, who was not caught by OTT, is unknown. He reportedly fled to Singapore and is said to have returned to Indonesia.

This case stems from the death of a PDIP candidate named Nazarudin Kiemas. In July 2019, the party bearing the bull symbol filed a lawsuit for judicial review of Article 54 of KPU Regulation Number 3 of 2019 concerning Voting and Counting to the Supreme Court (MA).

The application was then granted and as a determinant of the interim replacement (PAW), the party bearing the bull symbol then sent a letter to the KPU to appoint Harun as Nazarudin's replacement.

However, the KPU instead appointed Riezky Aprilia as a replacement for the brother-in-law of the PDI-P General Chairperson, Megawati Soekarnoputri, who had died. The reason is clear, Riezky's vote is under Nazarudin or in second place for the South Sumatra I Dapil.

Lobbying was then carried out so that Harun could become a member of the legislature. Seeing this gap, Wahyu Setiawan as the KPU commissioner said he was ready to help as long as there was an operational fund of IDR 900 million and the transaction was carried out in two stages in the middle and end of December 2019.