Lawyer says Democrat legislator involved in solar system graft case

A lawyer in a solar system procurement graft case said he had enough evidence to prove the involvement of Sutan Bhatoegana, a Democratic Party legislator.

“It was Sutan Bhatoegana who asked my client and his colleague at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to allow his company to win the bidding period,” Sofyan Hasim, lawyer of graft suspect Ridwan Sanjaya, told the Jakarta graft court on Friday.

Sofyan said that his client had unveiled everything related with Sutan during the questioning session, however, nothing in his client's dossiers mentioned Sutan’s role in the case.

Despite its denial, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has long been criticized by some activists for being ‘too soft’ on those from the ruling party.

The Solar Home System (SHS) procurement graft case has inflicted Rp 526 billion in state losses.