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ne by one, graft suspects are humiliating the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in court, capitalizing on the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) to not only escape the commission'€™s enforcement of the law, but also insult the country'€™s fight against corruption.

Former Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chief Hadi Purnomo is the third man to have dealt the KPK '€” once the nation'€™s most feared state body '€” a big blow after the South Jakarta District Court invalidated the KPK'€™s investigation into Hadi in connection with an alleged tax crime involving the country'€™s largest private bank, Bank Central Asia, when he was the tax office chief.

In his consideration, the sole judge, Haswandi, said the KPK had assigned independent investigators, whom he deemed illegitimate, to handle the high-profile case, rendering the investigation illegal.

But it is not only Hadi'€™s win that should give this nation cause for concern. Through his decision, judge Haswandi has set a bad precedent that will nullify the KPK'€™s hard-fought battle against corruption, because all the 371 cases it has investigated and had been confirmed by the Supreme Court are now in question.

Corruption convicts can now file case reviews to get their names cleared because the KPK has involved independent investigators, a procedure that the South Jakarta District Court says is unlawful.

The KPK lost the two previous court battles over investigation procedures to then National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan and former Makassar mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin, because it failed to present at least two items of evidence to declare them suspects.

In granting Hadi'€™s pretrial motion, judge Haswandi turned a blind eye to Article 43 of the 2002 KPK Law, which allows the commission to appoint investigators, but simply relied on the KUHAP, which says investigators are police officers or certain civil servants who are authorized by the law to carry out investigations.

Given the globally accepted legal principle that special laws like the KPK Law derogate common laws, the KPK should appeal judge Haswandi'€™s verdict not only to enable it to carry on its much-anticipated probe into the tax crime case but also to fend off possible legal moves to delegitimize it.

The problem in Indonesia is that judges have the freedom to, and often do, ignore the principle. There are many cases that involve the media in which judges opt to refer to the Criminal Code (KUHP) over the Press Law when it comes to news reports that are regarded as having discredited individuals or groups.

Indonesia enacted the KPK Law because of the urgent need to deal with entrenched corruption in the first place. The inception of the KPK Law was a result of a national consensus that mirrored a state of emergency in which the KUHP was deemed insufficient for tackling the problem.

Corruption is considered an extraordinary crime in the country, but a series of moves to undermine the KPK and its leaders and investigators show otherwise.

The trend may not end anytime soon, perhaps because the KPK is too difficult to control.