Former National Police director of special economic crimes Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas had the highest authority in an investigation into a high-profile graft case centering on tax official Gayus Tambunan, a police officer told the court.
Comr. Mohammad Arafat Enanie, now standing trial for allegedly receiving bribes from Gayus, said in his defense plea on Monday at the South Jakarta District Court that his superior, Edmond, had been in charge of the investigation.
"The team that investigated the handling of the Gayus Tambunan case was led by Edmon, and it was under his control," Arafat's attorney, E.M. Simandjuntak said, adding that his client Arafat had been following orders from his superiors.
Another of Arafat's attorneys, Firmansyah Zaidan, said there was strong evidence that his client, who was a low-ranking official, was being used as a scapegoat in a high-level conspiracy.
"There was no way that my client had the authority or means to unfreeze a suspect's bank account or to change a suspect's status to witness," Firmansyah told The Jakarta Post over the phone.
On July 21, the police stopped investigating Edmon and three other high-ranking officials - Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman, Sr. Comr. Eko Budi Sampurno and Sr. Comr. Pambudi Pamungkas - saying that they could not find enough evidence to charge them in the Gayus case.
"The indictment listed my client Arafat as part of the team that was probed in the case. However, Arafat was then just a subordinate, not a superior who had the authority to make decisions," lawyer Simandjuntak said, as he read out his client's defense plea.
Simandjuntak also criticized district prosecutors for issuing a "cursory" indictment, saying it was incomplete, as the indictment failed to detail his client's duties and obligations as an investigator in the Gayus case.
"For instance, the indictment said my client received Rp 5 million from businessman Andi Kosasih in Batam, over which the South Jakarta District Court has no jurisdiction," he said.
Andy was allegedly involved in a money laundering case, in which Gayus requested him to ostensibly become the holder of a US$2.81 million fund that was being frozen by the police during the investigation process.
In the case of Arafat, the attorney also said the indictment contained several factual errors.
"But what is most important is that the prosecutors have engineered the facts, which all have been assumed in hopes of fortifying their unaccountable indictment," he said.
He added that the prosecutors had failed to detail when his client, Arafat, had bought a luxury car and a luxury expensive house listed in the indictment as "material goods", which had been allegedly purchased using the bribe money from Gayus.
"These details are important, as the prosecutors need to list the dates of the purchase, whether they be before or after my client allegedly received the bribe from Gayus," the lawyer said.
