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AGO refuses to probe prosecutors over graft case
Darmono (JP)The new interim Attorney General, Darmono, said Monday he had no plan to follow up on police testimonies implicating prosecutors in high-profile tax evasion cases
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Darmono (JP)
The new interim Attorney General, Darmono, said Monday he had no plan to follow up on police testimonies implicating prosecutors in high-profile tax evasion cases.
But Darmono, who has temporarily taken up the post of Hendarman Supandji, promised he would resolve cases on human rights abuses, tax evasion and the 1998 riots. Hendarman was removed by the President last week.
Police officers testified that prosecutors Cirus Sinaga and Fadil Regan in the trial of ex-tax employee Gayus Tambunan had dictated the charges against Gayus in his Tangerang trial, leading to his acquittal in March.
Cirus came under intense scrutiny after the police named him a suspect but fellow prosecutors refused to recognize his suspect status, and police hesitated to indict him.
Darmono said police were yet to complete investigation into Cirus’s alleged role in verdict fixing, and the new attorney general would not do anything about him until the police come up with convincing evidence.
“Suspect status has not been established yet,” Darmono said, adding that the AGO would “subsequently follow up any results the National Police investigation team obtains”.
Gayus has admitted bribing investigators, prosecutors, attorneys and judges with part of the Rp 25 billion fortune he amassed from helping companies evade taxes to help secure his acquittal in his previous trial. He has been tried again in South Jakarta on charges of money laundering, embezzlement, abuse of power and bribery,
Police detective Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman testified Cirus issued orders to unfreeze an account and drop charges against Gayus.
But Cirus has remained largely untouched, sparking speculation that prosecutors and investigators were unwilling to probe him because of what he allegedly knew about the high profile Antasari case, in which he was chief prosecutor.
Antasari Azhar, former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief, was sentenced to 18 years for the murder of a businessman.
However National Police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto said the case had been investigated fully, as reported by detik.com.
He added that the progress of the tax evasion case would depend on the court’s findings.
Darmono said he has asked the deputy attorney general for special crimes to report on the progress of the tax evasion case as well as the online system graft cases.
The online graft case, which allegedly caused Rp 420 billion of state losses, implicates former minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra and businessman Hartono Tanoesoedibjo.
Victims and relatives of victims of human rights violations protested at the AGO Monday, urging prosecutors to resolve long-standing human rights violation cases.
The AGO is handling five human rights violation cases, including the May 1998 riots and alleged racist attacks as well as forced disappearances of activists between 1997 and 1998.
Activists from the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) and Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), with victims, met with prosecutor Domu P. Sihite, from the special crimes unit to discuss the progress of investigations.
“The response was very positive,” Yati Andriyani, a Kontras activist, said, though she added the AGO lacked consistency in resolving human rights violation cases. (gzl)
