The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) grilled on Thursday middleman Ari Muladi in the beginning of its investigation into a bribery attempt by businessman Anggodo Widjojo, the central player behind the alleged incrimination of the anti-graft body.
KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said the commission would question all the people and sides who were deemed relevant and knew about the bribery attempt.
"Today we have Ari Muladi undergoing intensive questioning at the commission building," he said, adding the anti-graft body would carry out a thorough investigation into the case after it received on Wednesday a green light from the police to handle the case.
Ari's lawyer Sugeng Teguh Santoso declined to reveal the investigation's results so far, saying only that the questioning session took place for an hour and was suspended until Monday.
The police have declined to hold Anggodo as a suspect although the latter has allegedly admitted to have handed over a Rp 5.1 billion bribe through Ari to the KPK leaders. The police said that they had no legal reasons or evidence to hold him.
Anggodo has allegedly confessed to handing over the money from his older brother, fugitive graft suspect Anggoro Widjojo, to two suspended KPK leaders Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah through Ari in his bid to have the commission's probe into the graft case at Anggoro's PT Masaro Radiokom halted. According to the taped recording played at the Constitutional Court, Anggodo with his lawyer Bonaran Situmeang played a central role in the attempt to bribe the KPK leaders and to incriminate the two suspended KPK deputies.
But Bibit and Chandra, who were declared suspects on abuse of power and bribery charges on two testimonies from former KPK chief Antasari Azhar and from Ari, have denied receiving the money.
Ari later withdrew his testimony and said he gave the money through another middleman identified as Julianto, whose whereabouts are still unknown.
Sugeng said he and his client had an objection to the investigation into the bribery attempt because it implicates only Anggodo who has obstructed investigation of the role played by several officials from the National Police and Attorney General's Office (AGO) and other state agencies in the alleged incrimination of the KPK leaders.
"The police have thrown their responsibility for the alleged incrimination to the antigraft body," Sugeng said, adding that the alleged incrimination was said to have involved high-ranking officials from the National Police and AGO.
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