T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has threatened to bring in former energy and mineral resources minister Jero Wacik by force for questioning after the Democratic Party politician failed for a second time on Thursday to answer a summons.

Jero argued that he wanted to focus on his upcoming pretrial hearing scheduled for April 13.

The former minister has filed a pretrial motion at the South Jakarta District Court to challenge the KPK'€™s decision to name him a suspect in two separate extortion cases.

The commission, however, dismissed Jero'€™s excuse.

'€œIf he cannot give clear reasons for not attending his third questioning, we will bring him in by force,'€ KPK acting commissioner Johan Budi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The KPK'€™s investigation indicated that Jero had strongarmed his subordinates at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry into collecting a total of Rp 9.9 billion (US$762,300) between 2011 and 2013. When serving as culture and tourism minister, he allegedly committed the same offense, collecting a total of Rp 7 billion between 2011 and 2013.

Separately, Jero'€™s lawyer Sugiyono said that the KPK should temporarily freeze his client'€™s cases pending the decision of the pretrial hearing.

'€œWe have registered our pretrial motion to the court and the court has set a date for the hearing. We call on KPK investigators to postpone the questioning of Pak Jero in the two cases,'€ Sugiyono told the Post on Thursday.

'€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.

A number of graft suspects have used pretrial petitions as attempts to avoid detention. The KPK usually locks up graft suspects to prepare their upcoming trial after questioning them for the first time as suspects in their cases.

The KPK has said that it will not admit such excuses from graft suspects, threatening to bring them in by force should they fail to answer a summons for the third time.

Graft suspects including Jero and six other KPK suspects lost no time filing pretrial pleas with the South Jakarta District Court after the court controversially approved a pretrial petition filed by Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan in February, voiding the KPK probe into the police general.

Other suspects currently challenging the KPK'€™s moves against them at the court include the former head of House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy, Sutan Bhatoegana, former Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chairman Hadi Poernomo, former Makassar mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin and the former director of state oil and gas operator Pertamina, Suroso Atmo Martoyo.

'€œKPK leaders have agreed to give priority to investigations into those who have filed pretrial petitions so that their dossiers can be completed,'€ KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the South Jakarta District Court rejected a pretrial petition from another KPK suspect, former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali, who had challenged the KPK decision to name him a suspect in a haj graft case that resulted in state losses of Rp 1.3 trillion.

South Jakarta District Court judge Tatik Hadiyanti said in her verdict that a pretrial ruling had no authority to challenge a law enforcement institution'€™s decision to name an individual a suspect.