T

he Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) fired its first salved in its legal battle against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Monday when the party'€™s secretary general, Muhammad Taufik Ridho, filed a police report against 10 of the antigraft body'€™s officials.

'€œWe filed a report against the 10 individuals from the KPK as they entered our headquarters without consent,'€ Taufik said before filing the complaints at the National Police'€™s Criminal Investigation Unit'€™s headquarters in South Jakarta.

Taufik accused the antigraft officials of attempting to seize five cars parked at the PKS headquarters last week without a warrant.

The vehicles were believed to be connected with the beef import scandal in which former PKS chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq has been named a suspect.

Taufik declined to disclose details on the 10 officials, but confirmed that none of them were KPK
leaders.

Taufik shrugged off allegations that the party was defying the KPK'€™s probe to protect its senior members, who could be implicated in graft.

'€œWe are not engaged in a fight with the KPK, just some individuals inside it. If [KPK investigators] had a warrant, we would have given them Luthfi'€™s cars. [Filing a report to the police] is our way of fighting for democracy,'€ he said.

Beef imports are overseen by the Agriculture Ministry, which is led by Minister Suswono, a senior PKS politician.

The KPK also named Luthfi'€™s aide, Ahmad Fathanah, a suspect in the case for allegedly accepting Rp 1 billion (US$102,965) in bribes from two executives of beef importing firm PT Indoguna Utama in exchange for an import slot.

Fathanah is said to have close ties with PKS top brass.

When filing the complaint, Taufik was joined by his lawyer, Fauzan Muslim, and PKS politicians Al Muzammil Yusuf, Aboe Bakar Al-Habsy and Indra, members the of House of Representatives'€™ Commission III overseeing legal and human rights.

'€œI come here as a PKS politician and not as lawmaker,'€ Al Muzammil said.

Elsewhere on Monday, KPK investigators questioned PKS chairman Anis Matta as witness in a money laundering case implicating Fathanah i.

'€œYes, I know him [Fathanah]. Fathanah is not a PKS member. He is Pak Luthfi'€™s [former PKS president] friend,'€ Anis said after the questioning session.

On Tuesday last week, Anis'€™ younger brother, Saldi Matta, told KPK investigators that Fathanah had once owed him Rp 50 million ($5,132).

Anis said he knew nothing about the debt and also declined to provide an explanation regarding copies of a property certificate under his first wife'€™s name found inside Fathanah'€™s bag when KPK investigators arrested him in January. Anis has two wives.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party politicians warned the PKS against implicating the ruling party in its feud with the KPK.

PKS deputy secretary general Fahri Hamzah said last week that the KPK should have dealt with the Democratic Party first as some of its members had already received bribes that they used to finance the party.

He also said that the move against the PKS has been orchestrated by certain parties.

'€œIt'€™s understandable that PKS members attempted to compare what they have experienced with other parties, but I must emphasize that it'€™s wrong and misleading to say that there is a flow of funds to the Democratic Party [from those that have been implicated],'€ Max said Monday.