Attorney General Basrief Arief made clear Wednesday that he would not prosecute two KPK deputies charged with extorting a graft suspect, defying the lawmakers’ recommendation that the pair be brought to court.
In an about-face, Basrief — who previously told legislators that he would review his predecessor’s decision to invoke a legal principle of deponeering to halt the prosecution against two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairmen, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah — said the AGO would certainly apply the controversial legal principle to clear the two of charges despite the House of Representatives’ objection.
“We actually haven’t received a formal answer [from the House], but whether they’ve decided to approve it or not, we will invoke deponeering for sure,” Basrief told reporters on Wednesday.
The 2004 law on the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) states that the attorney general has the privilege to execute the Dutch-adaptation legal principle of deponeering in halting a case for the sake of public interest, but it also stipulates that prosecutors should consult the move with other institutions, including the House, the President and the Supreme Court.
The AGO announced the dismissal of the proceedings in the KPK deputies’ case in October under the leadership of acting attorney general Darmono.
The House’s commission overseeing legal affairs decided to reject the AGO’s move, saying that Bibit and Chandra should stand trial to prove their innocence.
“We [the House speakers] have decided to accept it and will send a formal letter to the AGO within one or two days,” House deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said.
The commission’s chairman, Benny K. Harman, said the attorney general failed to give clear reasons why the AGO was invoking deponeering. Though the recommendation is legally binding, Benny added, it still had “strong political and legal weight”.
Political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi of the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) said if legislators continued forcing their recommendation on the AGO, they would only attract criticism from the public.
Many, including political and legal experts, believe that Bibit and Chandra’s case was part of an organized attempt to weaken the KPK, likely seen as a major threat to corrupt political elites.
They said it was critical to immediately end the case plaguing the KPK deputies, arguing that Anggodo Widjojo, who made the allegations against the two, failed to prove his allegations in a trial in which he was convicted of attempted bribery.
Burhanuddin suspected that the AGO wanted to mend its image, which was heavily tainted when it decided to probe Bibit and Chandra.
“Recent surveys show that the institution had lost its credibility in the eyes of the people,” he said, adding that it was also possible that the AGO’s move was aimed at further weakening the KPK by “giving” freedom to its leaders.
