C

onstitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD on Sunday called on police to follow up an alleged court document forgery case he had filed a report on more than a year ago.

“I informed [the National Police] about everything. It’s now their turn to investigate the case,” Mahfud told The Jakarta Post. “Our report included the complete chronology of the falsification process according to our internal investigation.”

The case, which occurred in August 2009, has implicated former General Elections Commission (KPU) member Andi Nurpati, who is now a member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party’s central executive board.

Mahfud, who informed Yudhoyono about an alleged attempt by Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin to give a Court official S$120,000 (US$97,048), has previously expressed disappointment over the police’s reluctance to probe Andi.

“There is another Democratic Party member [apart from Nazaruddin] allegedly involved in a crime and who was reported to police a long time ago, but I have not seen any progress made by the police,” Mahfud said earlier this month, referring to Andi.

Mahfud’s decision to expose the case is another blow to the ruling party, which has already been hit by a range of crime allegations centering on the notorious Nazaruddin.

Mahfud, however, denied his reports were aimed at discrediting the party.

In June 2010, a year after the 2009 general elections saw Yudhoyono relected, Andi quit the KPU for a post in the ruling party.

Her move triggered massive criticism over ethical issues, with critics speculating that the appointment was “compensation” for her efforts in the KPU to “favor Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party”.

Andi denied the allegations and any involvement in forging documents. “I have no problem if the police want to question me,” she said.

A former Court clerk, Zainal Arifin Hoesein, who allegedly conspired with Andi, was named a suspect by the police in October 2010 in the forgery case.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar confirmed that Mahfud did file a report with police on the document forgery case, but denied that Andi was named in the report.

The case began when the Constitutional Court was hearing an election dispute between Dewi Yasin Limpo of the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) and Mestariyani Habie of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), both of whom claimed they won a seat in the House of Representatives to represent the South Sulawesi I electoral region.

Dewi is the sister of South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo, whose 2007 victory in regional elections was also controversial.

Sources claim Zainal and Andi had worked on faking a Court letter declaring Dewi won the seat, and sent it to the KPU.

Based on this letter, the KPU awarded the Hanura politician the disputed seat, three days before the court mailed the authentic letter, which ruled that Mestariyani
had won.

KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said as quoted by vivanews.com he was careless in verifying the faxed document. “The contents of the faxed letter and the mailed letter were almost identical. I did not notice the difference initially.”