Luhut Again Alludes To OTT, KPK: Stay Away from Corruption If You Don't Want to Be Arrested

Illustration of the KPK. (Antara-M Adimaja)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said that staying away from corrupt practices is still a surefire way to avoid red-handed operations (OTT). Moreover, this activity cannot be carried out haphazardly or only to find fault with certain parties.

This statement was conveyed by the Head of the KPK Reporting Section Ali Fikri in response to the statement by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who again mentioned OTT.

"So it's like this, stay away from corruption. That's all. So if you stay away from corruption, it's impossible to be caught red-handed, right," Ali told journalists in Jakarta, Thursday, January 19.

Luhut, who attended the 2023 National Coordination Meeting of Regional Heads and Forkompida at SICC, West Java, alluded to the OTT KPK. At that time, he said, the government did not want to see the operation continue.

Returning to Ali, he emphasized that OTT should not be done haphazardly, so its implementation must be careful. After all, the anti-corruption commission must have evidence first.

"If then no one commits a criminal act of corruption, well, they certainly won't be arrested. That's it, that's all," he said.

The KPK ensures that it will not be daunted even though Luhut and other stakeholders often talk about OTT. Ali ensured that any corrupt officials who were caught carrying out their actions would be mercilessly charged.

"We are the KPK, we emphasize that we will continue to carry out red-handed activities as long as there are allegations of corruption before us," said Ali.

At the event which was also attended by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), Luhut reminded him of the importance of digitizing the government system. So, in the future local governments can fight silent operations.

"We have to fight OTT so that we can become a country with dignity. I don't think we want our country to become a country that is accused of not having a good ecosystem so that corruption occurs in Indonesia," said Luhut, Tuesday, January 17.

Previously, the OTT KPK had also been in the spotlight of Luhut when launching the 2023-2024 Corruption Prevention Action. At that time, he even said that the action taken by the anti-corruption commission had made Indonesia's name worse.

In fact, he asked that this activity not be done often. "If we want to clean up, we'll be in heaven. So, the KPK shouldn't even arrest them a little, arrest them. That's not good either, just have a look," Luhut said at the event which was also attended by KPK chairman Firli Bahuri.