KPK Considers Haji Isam To Disturb Witness Courage In Tax Bribery Case When Reporting Yulmanizar To Police

KPK Building (VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) reminded Samsudin Andi Arsyad alias Haji Isam to respect the ongoing tax bribery trial. He is considered to have disturbed the independence and courage of the witness after reporting a witness, named Yulmanizar, to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Police.

Acting KPK Spokesperson for Enforcement, Ali Fikri, said that reporting someone to the police on suspicion of submitting false information would affect witnesses. Thus, he reminded all parties to respect the tax bribery trial process that is currently underway at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

"There should not be certain parties who then report a criminal act in the form of an allegation of submitting false information from a witness during the trial process," Ali told reporters, Thursday, October 7.

"It is feared that this could interfere with the independence and courage of witnesses to reveal what they really know and feel," he added.

This warning arose because Haji Isam reported Yulmanizar who testified during the trial of the tax bribery case with the accused two former officials of the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance, Angin Prayitno and Dadan Ramdani, which was held on Monday, October 4.

At the trial, Yulmanizar called Haji Isam 'flirting' to condition the tax calculation value of his company, PT Jhonlin Barataman (JB). This was revealed when the KPK Public Prosecutor read out his Minutes of Investigation (BAP).

Returning to Ali, he said that the testimony of each witness was very much needed by the panel of judges and the public prosecutor to assess the legal facts of a case that was being tried. However, what the witness said at the trial would of course be further assessed by all parties involved in the trial, including the defendant and his attorney.

"The testimony of each witness as a trial fact will also be confirmed with other information and tested for truth so that it can become a legal fact. In principle, to become a legal fact requires a process," he said.

Moreover, the party who has the right to report witnesses on suspicion of false testimony is the public prosecutor. Ali said, this is in accordance with the criminal procedure law Article 174 Paragraph (2) which reads, "If the witness persists in his statement, the judge who is the head of the trial because of his position or at the request of the public prosecutor or the defendant may give an order that the witness be detained for further prosecution. on charges of perjury."

Haji Isam reported Yulmanizar to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police on suspicion of committing a crime of perjury and false information. The report was made by his lawyer, Junaidi on Wednesday, October 6.

The report is registered with the number LP/B/0606/X/2021/SPKT/BARESKRIM POLRI. Junaidi said that one of the reasons for Haji Isam to report to the police was because he felt he had never done what the witness revealed, which was to give Angin and Dadan a fee of Rp40 billion to take care of their company taxes.

Thus, the legal route by reporting to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Police is considered the right way to restore his good name. "For the rest, our clients respect the ongoing legal process while still upholding the principle of presumption of innocence," said Junaidi.

Yulmanizar, who is a former tax audit team, was reported for the crime of perjury and false information as referred to in Article 242 of the Criminal Code Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning the Criminal Code, criminal acts of defamation as referred to in Article 310 and/or 311 of the Criminal Code Law Number 1 of 1946 about the Criminal Code.

In the tax bribery case, which is currently on trial, Angin and Dadan, who are former officials of the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance, were charged with receiving Rp15 billion and S$4 million from several parties. Admissions were carried out from January 2018 to September 2019.

This bribe was given in relation to the tax management of three companies given by Veronika Lindawati as attorney from PT Bank Panin, Agus Susetyo as tax consultant for PT Jhonlin Baratama, and Ryan Ahmad Ronas and Aulia Imran Magribi as tax consultants from PT Gunung Madu Plantations.

The purpose of giving this bribe, said the KPK prosecutor, was so that Angin, who at that time served as Director of Audit and Collection of the Directorate General of Taxes, and Dadan Ramdani as the former Head of Sub-Head of Cooperation and Audit Support of the Directorate General of Taxes, manipulated the tax calculations of the three companies.