In Pledoi, The Defendant Of Bribe Rector Unila Andi Desfiandi Called The KPK To Leave Several People After OTT

Tanjungkarang Class I District Court Bandarlampung. (ANTARA/HO-Damiri)

The defendant in the alleged bribery of accepting new students from Lampung University (Unila), Andi Desfiandi, revealed that there were seven people who had been arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in the Hand Catch Operation (OTT) some time ago. "There were more than seven people who were arrested by the KPK who were directly involved in the alleged bribery or gratification, including several people who were suspected of being active as givers and intermediaries who had admitted the act," he said in a pledoi delivered during the trial at the Tanjungkarang Class IA District Court, Bandarlampung, quoted from Antara, Monday, January 9. He continued that information on the seven people who were secured by the KPK was found from a defendant named M Basri while in KPK detention. In the OTT, he continued, he regretted that the KPK had released several people for no apparent reason. "To me, who did not have direct connection and was not aware of the existence of OTT by the KPK, he was arrested one day later in a different location and was named a suspect and immediately detained. It's sad that again, when I was taken away by the authorities, I was on vacation in Bali with my children and grandchildren," he said. In the pledoi, the defendant said, he asked the KPK for clarity because why was he the only one detained and made a suspect. "If my actions are unlawful acts, then I ask the panel of judges not to interfere with my younger brother named Ary Meizari Alfian in this case. The role and presence of my younger brother in this matter is only to follow and carry out my orders as the oldest brother in the family," he said. The defendant's legal adviser, Ahmad Handoko, added that in a different pledoi that the defendant Andi in Article 5 of Law No. 20 of 2001 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption was not proven. According to him, based on witness testimony at the trial, no one explained the initial agreement to pass the students and Karomani asked for money. "The entire series of facts in this trial is more precisely gratification. If gratification, the giver cannot be held accountable for the crime," he said. Handoko asked the panel of judges to give acquittal to the defendant Andi Desfiandi and release the defendant from the prosecutor's indictment and restore his good name. "We ask that the panel of judges release the defendant from all charges by the public prosecutor because it is not proven," he concluded. Andi Desfiandi became a defendant in the alleged bribery case against the Unila Chancellor (non-active) Prof. Dr. Karomani for accepting new students at Unila in 2022. In this case, the KPK has named four suspects consisting of three as recipients of bribes, namely Prof. Dr. Karomani (the inactive Unila Chancellor), Deputy Chancellor I for Academic Affairs Unila Heryandi, and Senate Chairperson Unila Muhammad Basri. Meanwhile, the suspect who gave the bribe was the private party, Andi Desfiandi, who is currently a defendant and is still in the process of undergoing trial.