T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned prominent lawyer Hotma Sitompul on Thursday as a witness for his subordinate Mario Carmelio Bernardo.

Mario has been charged with bribing a Supreme Court staff member in a graft scandal that paints another grim picture of the country'€™s judicial system.

Hotma, a top advocate who often represents high-profile graft defendants such as former taxman Gayus Tambunan and now disgraced police general Djoko Susilo, refused to elaborate on the focus of questioning by KPK investigators.

'€œI was asked 24 questions, that'€™s all I can say,'€ he told reporters after the questioning session.

The KPK accused Mario of giving Rp 100 million in bribes to Supreme Court staffer Djodi Supratman in connection with a fraud case implicating businessman Hutomo Wijaya Ongowarsito, handled by the country'€™s highest judicial body.

The fraud case was filed to a cassation panel at the Supreme Court on April 9, upon a request from prosecutors. According to the Supreme Court'€™s website, the case was currently in process.

When asked whether he knew about the case, as well as Mario'€™s role in it, Hotma claimed to have no knowledge of it, saying he had no obligation to know what his staff members were doing.

'€œLet me ask this to you. Do I look like I know what my lawyers are working on? Does a boss need to know what his or her subordinates are doing?'€ he said.

When pressed further to give a concrete answer regarding his involvement in the bribery scandal, Hotma finally answered that he did not order Mario to give the bribes to Djodi. '€œHow could I order him if I don'€™t even know [about the case]?'€

Hotma also refused to answer when asked whether it was true that the plaintiff of Hutomo'€™s case had asked for a legal consultation service from his law firm. '€œI don'€™t want to answer that,'€ he said.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the antigraft body had not found any indication of the involvement of other parties in the bribery case.

There was a chance, however, for the KPK to name other suspects in the case as long as it found enough evidence, he added.

Johan also explained he did not know what documents the KPK investigators confiscated when they raided Hotma'€™s office on Jl. Martapura 3 in Central Jakarta last week.

Hotma is known as a top lawyer in the country as he has handled many high profile graft suspects and convicts. Other than Gayus and Djoko, Hotma also defended former Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung when he faced trial in the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) scandal, as well as Syarifuddin, a former Central Jakarta District judge who was convicted of corruption last year.

He also represented Syahril Djohan, a major '€œcase broker'€ believed to have strong links to prosecutors and top officials at the National Police headquarters. In 2011, Syahril was '€œonly'€ sentenced to 18 months for his involvement in a bribery case.

Antigraft activists have said that the arrest of Mario confirmed allegations that justice could still be bought in the country.