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irus Sinaga, the prosecutor implicated in a high-profile bribery case centered on notorious corruption convict Gayus H. Tambunan, will be tried at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

“He faces corruption charges, thus he will be tried at the Corruption Court,” Attorney General’s Office (AGO) spokesman Noor Rachmad told The Jakarta Post over the telephone on Thursday.

Noor said Cirus’ prosecution accorded with the 2009 Corruption Court Law, which stipulated that corruption courts must try all graft cases forwarded by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the AGO.

Previously, only corruption cases forwarded by the KPK could be tried at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

The government must establish corruption courts in every province to comply with the law. Observers agreed that trying Cirus at the Jakarta Corruption Court would better uphold
justice than a trial in a conventional court.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) previously issued a report stating that the Jakarta Corruption Court was superior to other of courts, saying it was “more stern in handling corruptors”.

Cirus made headlines in 2010 following a testimony from Gayus, who claimed that Cirus accepted US$50,000 in bribes for abetting the forgery of Gayus’ prosecution document.

The prosecutor was charged with violating the 2001 Anticorruption Law for obstructing an investigation, abusing his authority and accepting a bribe while allegedly committing criminal acts that led to Gayus’ initial acquittal by the Tangerang District Court in March 2010.

Investigators have concluded their questioning of Cirus and submitted a case file related to his alleged involvement in a tax corruption case to the South Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday.

“We handed over the case files, along with the suspect and evidence,” National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said.

According to Noor, after the handover, the prosecutor’s office would submit the case to the Jakarta Corruption Court.

Cirus is currently in custody at the Salemba detention center in Central Jakarta.

Cirus lawyer, Tumbur Simanjuntak, said he had hard evidence proving Cirus was not involved in the case.

“There is not a shred of evidence showing Cirus’ involvement. There is also no evidence that Cirus accepted bribes,” Tumbur said at the South Jakarta Prosecutors’ Office as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.