The AGO Has Been Urged INTO New Suspects In A Case Of Alleged Baja Import Corruption

JAKARTA - The crowd on behalf of the Indonesian Young Activist Community Executive Board (PB KAMI) demonstrated in front of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) Building, South Jakarta, Thursday, October 20.

They urged the AGO to name a new suspect in the case of alleged corruption in the 2016-2021 period of iron and steel imports.

"The Attorney General's Office only sacrifices low-level employees, namely Tahan Banurea, Head of Administration Subdivision of the Directorate of Imports, Directorate General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade as suspects," said PB KAMI General Chair Sultoni during a demonstration in front of the AGO Building, Jakarta, Thursday, October 20.

The masses also demanded that the AGO be fair and uphold the principle of equality between everyone before the law, aka equality before the law in handling cases of alleged corruption of iron and steel imports.

In this case, the AGO has named four suspects, namely the Head of Sub-Directorate for Import Licensing of the Ministry of Trade Chandra (already dead), the Junior Expert Trade Analyst at the Directorate of Imports of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) Tahan Banurea (TB). Furthermore, the manager at PT Meraseti Logistik Indonesia Taufik (T) and the owner of PT Meraseti Logistic Indonesia (MLI) Budi Hartono Linardi (BHL).

In addition, the AGO also named six corporate suspects, namely PT BES, PT DSS, PT IB, PT JAK, PT PAS, and PT PMU.

According to Sultoni, the detention of Banurea is only a victim of a zolim and discriminatory legal process. Hold Banure, he said, is a sacrifice to protect unscrupulous Ministry of Trade officials who actually deserve accountability for the case that cost the state Rp. 23.6 trillion.

The intended official is the Acting Director General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade, Veri Anggriyono.

Sultoni said that Veri Anggiyono, as the party that approved the policy of importing iron and steel from China, should be suspected of being involved in cases of alleged corruption in the import of iron and steel.

"The permit to import iron and steel was at least approved by Veri Anggriyono as Director of Imports of the Ministry of Trade. However, Veri Anggriyono was not named a suspect and is still free to roam," he said.

He also criticized the arrival of Veri Anggrijono with the Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan to the AGO to meet with Attorney General Burhanuddin during the signing of the MoU for legal assistance between the Ministry of Trade and the Attorney General's Office some time ago.

"What Veri Anggriyono did was a legal acrobaticism that hurt people's sense of justice," he said.

The protesters also questioned the status of Veri Anggriyono. Whereas on February 24, 2022, continued Sultoni, the investigating prosecutor had been officially summoned to be questioned on Tuesday, March 1. The summons for examination was signed by the Director of Investigation (Dirdik) Supardi, who is now the Head of the Riau Islands High Prosecutor's Office (Kajati).

According to Sultoni, this shows immunity against Veri Anggrijono which can hurt the conscience of the Indonesian people who want the principle of equality before the law.

"Hasn't Mr. Attorney General Burhanuddin always said that the Prosecutor's Office in handling cases would be sharp upwards," he explained.

Therefore, continued Sultoni, in this second action his party demanded the AGO not to protect the person in question and prove that there were no business deals, so he dared to designate Veri Anggriyono as a suspect, such as detaining Banurea.

"Prove the handling of cases of iron and sharp steel imports and upwards humanely downwards. Don't just let Veri Anggriyono's staff be sacrificed," he said.

In addition to visiting the AGO, based on an Antara report, the PB KAMI crowd plans to visit Commission III of the DPR asking to immediately summon the Attorney General and Jampidsus regarding the handling of iron and steel imports cases.

"We also encourage the KPK to take over this case," said Sultoni.