Whistle-blower consults court over legal protection

Agus Condro, a former lawmaker who confessed to accepting bribes during the election of a BI top official, visited the Constitutional Court on Thursday to question the court's recent decision on protection for whistle-blowers.

The court recently rejected a judicial review request by graft suspect Susno Duadji and ruled that Article 10 of the 2006 Law on Witness and Victim Protection, which stipulates that a whistle-blower who is also a suspect in a case cannot be immune to legal charges, did not run counter to the 1945 Constitution.

“My case is similar to Susno's. So I will consult with the court on how the decision would effect my case,” Agus said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The KPK have named dozens of former and current lawmakers as graft suspects, alleging they accepted bribes in a multi-billion rupiah scandal that centers on the alleged distribution of traveler’s checks to members of the House of Representatives’ Commission IX overseeing finance to buy support for a candidate for a senior central bank position in 2004.

Agus Condro, then a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), admitted that he had received Rp 500 million (US$54,500) from Miranda Gultom, who was elected Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor by the House of Representatives.

Agus said that he was not the only lawmaker to receive money for voting for Miranda.