KPK defends use of military detention center

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is refusing to bow to House of Representatives pressure and is, instead, insisting on using a high-security military detention center for corruption suspects under investigation.

“I will not step back, even an inch, and cancel the agreement,” KPK chief Abraham Samad said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

The KPK recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian Military (TNI) to use the latter's detention facility in Guntur, South Jakarta, which is under the control of the Jakarta Military Command (Kodam Jaya). The KPK said its detention facility was too small to hold the increasing number of graft suspects the commission was investigating.

However, members of the House's Commission III, overseeing legal affairs and security, are opposed to the KPK's decision to use the facility, including the Democratic Party's I Gede Pasek Suardika and Aziz Syamsuddin from the Golkar Party.

Azis requested that the MoU be canceled because the state had several other facilities, including at the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and National Police headquarters. Moreover, he referred to the TNI's role during the New Order regime, saying the MoU could allow the TNI to return to its former position.

Echoing Aziz's statement, Pasek Suardika said: “I personally disagree with this MoU. It's dangerous to have the TNI departing from its core rules and entering the civilian realm,” Pasek said.

Abraham pointed out that the agreement between the KPK and TNI had been established during the tenure of the first KPK leader, Taufiqurrahman Ruki.

“Don't make negative assumptions. We are with everyone who wants to be involved in eradicating corruption,” Abraham said.

Abraham denied claims that the military detention facility was meant specifically for the detention of Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, a National Police general arrested recently for his alleged involvement in a graft case surrounding the procurement of driving simulators for the National Police Traffic Corps.

“We just want to use what the state has,” he explained. (fzm/swd)