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KPK locks up flamboyant Democratic Party cofounder
Arrested: Former Democratic Party lawmaker Sutan Bhatoegana (second left) is ushered to a waiting detainee van at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Jakarta on Monday
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span class="inline inline-center">Arrested: Former Democratic Party lawmaker Sutan Bhatoegana (second left) is ushered to a waiting detainee van at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Jakarta on Monday. Sutan has been accused of accepting a bribe for easing the passage of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's 2013 budget.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detained Democratic Party cofounder Sutan Bhatoegana on Monday, eight months after declaring the former head of Commission VII on energy at the House of Representatives a suspect in a bribery case.
The detention of Sutan came one week after the antigraft body pledged to complete all high-profile graft cases, including Sutan's, before the tenure of current KPK leaders ' Abraham Samad, Bambang Widjojanto, Adnan Pandu Praja and Zulkarnain ' expired in December.
KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said that antigraft investigators decided to lock up Sutan after completing around 80 percent of his dossier and the KPK had a maximum of 120 days, as mandated by the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), to complete the remaining 20 percent before sending his case to court for trial.
'He'll be detained at the KPK detention center located in Salemba in Central Jakarta for the first 20 days. The detention is extendable up to 120 days. The detention is to facilitate the completion of the remaining dossiers prior to the trial,' Priharsa said.
After around 10 hours of questioning, Sutan declined to make any comment on his arrest, simply saying that he would follow all the legal procedures in his case.
'I will follow all the procedures. Let's leave it to the court, which has the authority to decide whether I am guilty or not,' Sutan said as he put on an orange detainee vest before being rushed by KPK vehicle to the detention center.
The case against Sutan was first revealed after graft and money-laundering convict and former Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) head, Rudi Rubiandini, testified at the Jakarta Corruption Court last year that the multimillion dollar bribes he received from a number of oil and gas companies were partly channeled to the House as payoffs to Sutan and other Commission VII members.
The House payoffs included a demand from Sutan for US$200,000 to pay 'holiday bonuses' to Commission VII lawmakers in 2013. Another $140,000 was paid to ease the deliberation of the budget of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, which oversees SKKMigas, in 2013 allegedly as instructed by former Energy minister Jero Wacik, who is also a Democratic Party politician.
It has become common practice for state agencies under the supervision of ministries to be used as
cash cows.
Due to his powerful position in control of the energy ministry Sutan also allegedly instructed Rudi to rig the bidding for a lucrative multimillion-dollar oil project held by a local unit of US energy giant Chevron, in which Edhie 'Ibas' Baskoro, the youngest son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was also implicated.
Sutan was allegedly at loggerheads with Yudhoyono's cousin Sartono Hutomo and a 'friend' of Ibas, regarding to their alleged attempt to cut corners in the bidding for a $600 million offshore construction project.
Although the auction was held by Chevron, the winner had to be approved by SKKMigas, which was led by Rudi at that time.
Sutan allegedly conspired in July 2013 with Rudi to favor PT Timas Suplindo in the project, but their plan was opposed by Sartono, then Democratic Party chief treasurer ' and friend of Ibas ' who backed rival PT Rekayasa Industri (Rekin). Rudi, however, declared Timas the winner.
Sutan has been charged under Articles 11 and 12 of Law No. 31/1999 on corruption, in conjunction with Article 55 of the KUHAP on collective and continuous crime, which carry a maximum 20 years behind bars for a state official receiving bribes. The use of Article 55 implies the involvement other people in the case.
Sutan earlier said he would reveal 'everything' during his upcoming trial, especially other parties involved in his case, but he did not mention specifically whether Ibas was one of them.
KPK deputy for prevention Johan Budi confirmed that Sutan had provided KPK investigators with meaningful information about others with regard to corruption plaguing House Commission VII, SKKMigas and the Energy Ministry.
'We are stepping up our efforts to unravel the roles of other parties in the case,' Johan said.
