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KPK says 'leaked document' naming Jero suspect is fake
Questionable: A journalist displays a picture of a document believed to be a bogus Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) letter ordering the investigation of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik in relation to a bribery case
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Questionable: A journalist displays a picture of a document believed to be a bogus Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) letter ordering the investigation of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik in relation to a bribery case. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira) (KPK) letter ordering the investigation of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik in relation to a bribery case. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
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span class="inline inline-none">Questionable: A journalist displays a picture of a document believed to be a bogus Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) letter ordering the investigation of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik in relation to a bribery case. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Friday denied it had named Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik a suspect in the corruption case surrounding suspended SKKMigas chief Rudi Rubiandini.
The antigraft agency made the rebuttal after a photograph of a purportedly classified KPK document, which ordered an investigation into Jero's role in Rudi's case, came into circulation in the public realm.
KPK commissioner Bambang Widjojanto said the antigraft body had never issued such a letter.
The agency's spokesperson Johan Budi said that he was 100 percent sure that the document, called 'sprindik', was a fake one.
Even though the letter appeared to be signed by Bambang, he said the format differed to the commission's official style.
In the photograph, the upper part of the document was not shown and it was written using various fonts, according to Johan.
In addition, the image clearly showed handwriting on the bottom left of the letter, which read that the naming of Jero as a suspect was pending the approval of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
'There couldn't be a sprindik letter with handwriting like that on the side of the signature,' Johan told a press conference at the KPK's headquarters in Kuningan. 'Someone faked [the document] and leaked it to the press.'
He also said further evidence, which proved the document was a fake, was the fact the KPK had not yet conducted a case expose ' needed before the KPK could name someone a suspect ' on Jero's case.
Johan went on to say that the KPK had summoned the commission's internal monitoring team, which would investigate the origins of the document, and it had called a meeting to discuss how to proceed with the matter.
This is not the first leak to hit the KPK. Earlier this year, a KPK document naming former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum a suspect in the Hambalang graft case was leaked just weeks before he was officially charged.
The incident occurred when Anas' rivals within the Democratic Party, including Jero Wacik, were calling for his ouster because of his alleged involvement in the Hambalang case. Anas, at the time, voiced the suspicion that the document leak was part of a plot to unseat him as party chairman.
The KPK initially denied the authenticity of the document on Anas, but later established a fact-finding team to investigate the case. It also set up an ethics panel after finding that KPK chief Abraham Samad was allegedly culpable for the leak. The panel discovered that the classified document had been sent to journalists by Abraham's secretary, Wiwin.
According to Johan, this current case is different. 'This time we have said [the circulating document] was fake,' he said.
As such, the KPK will not establish an ethics panel to probe into the case.
Democratic Party officials demanded a thorough investigation into those responsible for the dissemination of false information about Jero, which they said was an attempt to tarnish the party's image.
The picture of the document was sent anonymously from the e-mail account of satgasmafiahukum@gmail.com.
Rudi was Jero's deputy before he was assigned by the President to lead the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas), which is under the auspices of Jero's ministry.
Rudi was caught accepting US$700,000 in bribes from Simon Gunawan Tanjaya, an executive with the Singapore-based oil trading firm Kernel Oil, through his golf instructor, Deviardi aka Ardi, in a sting operation.
Jero was dragged further into the case when the KPK found $200,000 in Waryono Karno's office, the secretary-general of the ministry, during a raid the day after Rudi's arrest.
It is alleged that the money is related to the bribery case.
The KPK had hinted that it would question Jero after summoning Waryono. Johan, however, said that as of Friday the commission had not planned to summon Jero. He did confirm that it would definitely question Waryono regarding the money found in his office.
