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Pretrial bubble bursts as another plea is rejected

Following the rejection of two other pretrial motions, former Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chairman Hadi Poernomo withdrew his own motion during a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday

Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, April 14, 2015 Published on Apr. 14, 2015 Published on 2015-04-14T06:39:45+07:00

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Pretrial bubble bursts as another plea is rejected

F

ollowing the rejection of two other pretrial motions, former Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chairman Hadi Poernomo withdrew his own motion during a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday.

Judge Baktiar Jubri opened Monday'€™s initial hearing of Hadi'€™s pretrial claim asking the court to order the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to annul his graft suspect status in a high-profile tax scandal but, before reading the claim, Hadi'€™s lawyer Maqdir Ismail interrupted the session and said that Hadi had changed his mind.

The lawyer did not elaborate on the reason behind the withdrawal.

Maqdir also declined to comment on another hearing at the South Jakarta court on the same day that had rejected a petition filed by graft suspect and Democratic Party cofounder Sutan Bhatoegana.

The court dismissed on Wednesday another petition from former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali who sought to have his suspect status in a haj fund scandal annulled.

'€œWe have no other reason for the withdrawal than that it is at the request of my client,'€ Maqdir said on Monday. Hadi did not attend the court session.

The pretrial mechanism had been frequently demanded by graft suspects to clear them from charges after the controversial verdict of judge Sarpin Rizaldi that annulled the suspect status of high-ranking police officer, Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan.

Legal experts said the controversial verdict, which went against the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), caused chaos in the country'€™s legal system as it encouraged six other KPK suspects including Sutan, Hadi and Suryadharma, to try to emulate Budi'€™s success.

Two days after the rejection of Suryadharma'€™s pretrial motion he was sent for detention.

The KPK claimed the suspects had used pretrials as a means to delay investigations into their cases as well as to avoid KPK detention by skipping questioning.

KPK legal team division member Yudi Kristiana urged the remaining suspects '€” including former director of state oil and gas company Pertamina Suroso Atmo Martoyo and former Makassar mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin '€” who filed similar requests with the court, to give up their pretrial battles and focus on preparing themselves to face their upcoming trials.

'€œIt is better if they voluntarily do so,'€ Yudi said.

Yudi said articles 77 and 82 of the KUHAP limited the authority of the pretrial mechanism to the determination of the legality of an arrest or detention, the termination of an investigation or prosecution and a request for compensation and rehabilitation.

The KPK is set to summon Hadi for questioning sometime this week following the court'€™s rejection of his pretrial petition.

'€œWe will soon send the letter so that he can be questioned this week,'€ acting KPK commissioner Johan Budi said on Monday. Johan did not specify on which day Hadi would be grilled for the first time as a suspect in his case.

Separately, Sutan'€™s lawyer Eggi Sudjana said his client did not accept Monday'€™s ruling and would file a case review petition to the Supreme Court asking it to overrule the decision. '€œWe will challenge the judge'€™s mistake,'€ Eggi said.

Another lawyer for Sutan, Rahmat Harahap said he would report the judge to the Judicial Commission for rejecting his client'€™s pretrial petition.

Separately, the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court once again adjourned the reading of the KPK prosecutors'€™ indictment against Sutan in his bribery case as the politician was too ill to come to the court on Monday.

Last week, the court also ordered a one-week adjournment after Sutan'€™s lawyers failed to show up at the court. The lawyers said the Jakarta Corruption Court should postpone the trial until the South Jakarta District had made its final ruling on Sutan'€™s pretrial petition.

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