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ormer energy and mineral resources minister Jero Wacik became the seventh graft suspect to file a petition to the South Jakarta District Court to challenge a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigation, his lawyer confirmed on Tuesday.

Although a pretrial motion could only be filed to challenge technicalities in the application of the country'€™s Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), it became a saving grace for graft suspects after Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, whose candidacy as the National Police chief was annulled after the KPK named him a bribery suspect in January, stopped the KPK from investigating him following a pretrial verdict by the South Jakarta District Court.

Jero'€™s lawyer, Sugiyono, said the pretrial petition, which was filed with the court on March 30, petitioned the court to order the KPK to stop investigating the Democratic Party central board member in two separate graft cases centering on his roles as former energy and mineral resources minister and former culture and tourism minister.

In its investigation, the KPK found that Jero had allegedly extorted his subordinates at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to collect a total of Rp 9.9 billion (US$762,300) in dirty money during 2011-2013. When serving as culture and tourism minister, he allegedly committed the same offense by collecting a total of Rp 7 billion.

'€œMy client is trying to seek justice through a pretrial petition. He disagrees with the KPK'€™s move to name him a suspect in these two cases,'€ Sugiyono said on Tuesday.

The KPK said after the South Jakarta District Court'€™s controversial ruling on Budi that other graft suspects would use the pretrial motion to challenge the KPK'€™s investigations as well as to refuse to attend questioning to avoid detention, making it difficult for the KPK to complete dossiers to send cases to court for trial.

'€œIt is their right to file pretrial petitions but such a move should not be done to hamper our investigations,'€ said KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha.

Before Jero, the former head of the House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy, Sutan Bhatoegana; former Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chairman Hadi Poernomo; former Makassar mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin; former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali; and former director of state oil and gas operator Pertamina Suroso Atmo Martoyo, filed pretrial petitions to stop the KPK'€™s investigation and avoid detention.

The KPK has expressed concern that another 34 suspects could file pretrial motions and complicate matters for the antigraft body.

One of the witnesses, Siti Tarwiyah, who was once questioned by the KPK in its investigation into former Bangkalan regent Fuad Amin, has also filed a pretrial petition to the South Jakarta District Court.

'€œNow it'€™s easy for everyone to file a pretrial petition [for any reason]. The witness filed the petition because she questioned the way investigators handled her questioning in the case,'€ Priharsa said.

Siti claimed that a KPK investigator had verbally attacked her by forcing her to admit that she was the third wife of Fuad and confirm that she was a beneficiary of the former regent'€™s ill-gotten assets.

Meanwhile, Suroso continued to attack the KPK in his pretrial petition held on Tuesday at the South Jakarta District Court by saying that two KPK investigators handling his case were not legitimate investigators as they had resigned from the police in 2014.

The KPK said that it had right to hire as independent investigators those who have resigned from the police.

Separately, South Jakarta District Court spokesman Made Sutrisna said on Sunday that the court received another 27 pretrial petitions after Budi'€™s successful petition in February.