Azis Syamsuddin And 8 People Who Are Alleged To Be His Protectors In The KPK

KPK press conference on the determination of Azis Syamsuddin as a suspect in a corruption case (Wardhany Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - The name of the former Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Azis Syamsuddin, is back in the spotlight. During the trial of a former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator, Stepanus Robin Pattuju, it was revealed that he had eight insiders to secure himself in the anti-corruption commission.

Former KPK investigator Novel Baswedan admitted that he was not surprised by this allegation and had reported it to the KPK Supervisory Board even though it was not followed up. Meanwhile, the KPK Supervisory Board admitted that they had never received the report and only found out from the news in the media.

The allegation of an insider to secure Azis Syamsuddin was revealed from the investigation report (BAP) belonging to the Regional Secretary (Sekda) Tanjungbalai Yusmada. The file was read out by the Public Prosecutor in a trial held at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday, October 4.

"In the Minutes of Investigation (BAP) Number 19, paragraph 2, you explained that M Syahrial said he could get to know Robin because he was assisted by Azis Syamsuddin, the Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives because he was met at Azis' house in Jakarta. M Syahrial also said that Azis had 8 There are people in the KPK who can be mobilized by Azis for the sake of Azis OTT or securing the case, one of them is Robin. That's Azis Syamsuddin, who has secured the OTT and secured the case, what case?" asked the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the KPK Heradian Salipi.

"Nothing was conveyed," Yusmada replied.

In the trial, Yusmada, who is a suspect in the bribery case of buying and selling positions with the inactive Tanjungbalai Regent M Syahrial, was presented as a witness. He testified for Stepanus Robin and lawyer Maskur Husain who were charged with accepting bribes of Rp. 11.5 billion from handling five cases at the KPK, including the case against Azis Syamsuddin.

"What do you mean by Azis Syamsuddin's interests?" the prosecutor asked again.

"I don't know," replied Yusmada.

"Just talking for the sake of Azis Syamsuddin?" asked the prosecutor.

"Yes, sir," replied Yusmada.

"In the BAP you said 'it can be moved for the sake of Azis Syamsuddin', did you say anything else?" asked the prosecutor.

"No sir, that's all, sir," replied Yusmada.

This confession came as a surprise, but not for Novel Baswedan. The former KPK investigator who was expelled due to the failure of the National Insight Test Assessment (TWK) admitted that he had long known about the existence of Azis Syamsuddin inside the anti-corruption commission.

He has even reported it to the KPK Supervisory Board. However, this report ended up in vain.

"I have also (already) reported the problem to the Dewas but it doesn't (but doesn't) work," Novel said as quoted from his Twitter account @nazaqistha on Tuesday, October 5.

Novel thinks that the KPK is afraid that the eight people will be exposed to the public. This, he said, was proven by the anti-corruption commission's efforts to get rid of him and his colleagues who were in charge of the bribery case to investigate the alleged corruption.

"Indeed, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is afraid that it will be revealed and forbids our team to investigate the case by appointing another team for (for) investigation," he said.

The member of the KPK Supervisory Board, Syamsuddin Haris, actually denied Novel's statement. According to him, he and his four colleagues never received a report about the existence of eight people protecting Azis at the KPK.

Haris even admitted that he only found out about the report from the hectic news in the media.

"There has never been an official report to the KPK Council regarding eight investigators or KPK insiders who are said to be securing US interests (Azis Syamsuddin). I only found out from the media," he said when confirmed.

Meanwhile, regarding Yusmada's confession, Acting KPK Spokesperson for Enforcement, Ali Fikri, said that his party would re-examine or cross-check other information obtained from witnesses and defendants.

He even said that later the prosecutor will summon other witnesses who are relevant to the facts and will be confirmed through the evidence and files of the defendants.

"The testimony of the witness will still be investigated by the KPK prosecutors team by summoning other witnesses relevant to proving the facts in question. The witnesses present will also be confirmed through various evidences in the defendants' case files," he stressed.

With these various investigations, it is hoped that the prosecutor's indictment can be proven. "And the case can be developed further," said Ali.