T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has said it will continue questioning witnesses in graft cases involving Democratic Party co-founder Sutan Bhatoegana and former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali in spite of their move to file pretrial petitions at the South Jakarta District Court.

The KPK said that a graft suspect'€™s decision to file a pretrial petition to challenge his or her suspect status would not stop it from questioning witnesses.

KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha denied suggestions that the commission had put on the back burner investigations into Sutan and Suryadharma, saying that KPK investigators had not only questioned further witnesses in recent days, they had also stepped up their probes in other ways.

'€œWe recently confiscated a Toyota Alphard car from Sutan'€™s family. The seizure took place last week after we met resistance from his family members the week before,'€ Priharsa told reporters at the KPK headquarters on Tuesday.

In Sutan'€™s case, Priharsa said that a number of witnesses had been questioned since the Democratic Party politician filed his pretrial petition in February. Priharsa did not give details about the witnesses.

'€œAs for Suryadharma'€™s case, I think we questioned a witness last Friday but I'€™d have to check to be certain,'€ Priharsa explained.

Sutan is currently being detained at the KPK detention center and filed a pretrial petition soon after his detention started, while Suryadharma remains free after filing his pretrial petition at the 11th hour when the KPK was planning to bring him into its detention center.

Asked about the possibility of questioning and detaining Suryadharma while his pretrial process was going on, Prihasa said, '€œI will check his questioning schedule.'€

The KPK faces a headache on how to proceed with an investigation into a suspect who has filed a pretrial petition.

During the recent standoff between the National Police and the KPK, in a move to ease the tension, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo ordered the KPK to temporarily freeze its investigation into Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan until the South Jakarta District Court had handed down its final ruling on Budi'€™s pretrial petition to challenge his graft suspect status.

Lawyers of graft suspects whose cases are being handled by the KPK have demanded the antigraft body halt its probes after their clients filed pretrial petitions to the court. Last week, the KPK rejected Sutan'€™s lawyer'€™s request to temporarily release him from detention for his pretrial hearing in early April.

Sutan stands accused of receiving billions of rupiah in bribes during his stint as chairman of House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy and mineral resources.

The House payoffs included a demand from Sutan for US$200,000 to pay '€œholiday bonuses'€ to Commission VII lawmakers in 2013. Another $140,000 was paid in 2013 to ease the deliberation of the budget of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, which oversees SKKMigas, allegedly under the instructions of then minister Jero Wacik, also a member of the Democratic Party.

Suryadharma, meanwhile, is accused of abusing his authority as religious affairs minister to rig a number of procurement projects with regard to the 2012-2013 haj program. The KPK claims that Suryadharma'€™s alleged offenses caused more than Rp 1 trillion (US$760 milllion) in state losses.