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New KPK leaders seek help from AGO, police
On good terms: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) acting chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki (left) talks to Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo after a meeting on Monday at the Attorney Generalâs Office to discuss how to step up the fight against corruption
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span class="inline inline-center">On good terms: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) acting chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki (left) talks to Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo after a meeting on Monday at the Attorney General's Office to discuss how to step up the fight against corruption. JP/Wendra Ajistyatama
The new interim leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) have continued to reach out for allies and to mend fences, requesting the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to provide more prosecutors to accelerate investigations.
'We have to admit that the number of corruption cases at the KPK has piled up rapidly and it isn't something we can handle on our own. We will communicate and cooperate much more intensely in the future with the AGO and the National Police in order to be more efficient,' acting KPK chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki told reporters after a meeting with Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo at the prosecutors' headquarters.
Taufiqurrahman and two other deputy chairmen Johan Budi and Zulkarnaen met with Prasetyo following the intensive conflict between the KPK and the police over the nomination of Police Education Institute (Lemdikpol) director Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as National Police chief.
The nomination became controversial after the KPK named Budi a suspect in a bribery case, a move that led to police prosecution, and the subsequent suspension, of two KPK leaders, Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto.
A pretrial ruling by judge Sarpin Rizaldi in the South Jakarta District Court annulled Budi's suspect status but President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo nonetheless decided to drop his nomination to ease tensions between the two institutions.
Taufiqurrahman, a former police officer and first chairman of the KPK, also met with National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti last Friday to smooth out relations and ask for 50 more investigators from the police.
Taufiqurrahman said the KPK was considering the handover of several graft cases located outside Jakarta to the AGO to increase efficiency and minimise investigation and prosecution costs.
'If a suspect from eastern Indonesia is to be tried, why don't we hand the case over to the local prosecutor's office instead of bringing the suspect to Jakarta? Trials must be cheap, quick and simple,' he said.
The KPK commissioners also asked Prasetyo to provide 50 additional prosecutors as there are currently only 95 prosecutors working at the anti-graft body, the Attorney General immediately agreed to this.
Meanwhile, KPK legal division head Catharina M. Girsang said KPK leaders had yet to decide what steps the anti-graft body would take following the rejection by South Jakarta District Court of a cassation petition against Sarpin's ruling.
Chatarina said another option on the table was to file a case review to the Supreme Court.
South Jakarta District Court spokesman Made Sutrisna said the KPK's petition was rejected because Article 45 of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) stipulated that a pretrial verdict could not be challenged through a cassation mechanism.
Arsil, a researcher at the Institute for Research and Advocacy for Independent Courts (LeIP), lambasted the court for rejecting the KPK's proposal as approximately 130 cassation petitions challenging pretrial verdicts were submitted by primary courts to the Supreme Court between 2009 and 2011.
'If it's true the KUHAP prohibits it, why were there around 130 petitions registered at the Supreme during the period?' said Arsil.
Miko Susanto Ginting from the Center of Indonesian Legal and Policies Studies (PSHK) said the South Jakarta District Court should deliver the KPK's petition to the Supreme Court and let the latter decide on it.
'The Supreme Court must resolve the mess resulting from Sarpin's controversial ruling. People are now confused whether someone's legal status can be challenged through a pretrial mechanism because such a mechanism is not regulated by the KUHAP,' Miko said.
Taufiqurrahman, who supported the pretrial before being appointed KPK chairman, said he respected Sarpin's ruling.
'The KPK will respect the legal process. Even though there is a lot of debate on the legality of challenging a suspect's status but, as we saw, it was accepted by the court,' Ruki said.
