Acting KPK commissioner Johan Budi explained that Kaligis' status in the case, which involved one of his subordinates M Yagari Bhastara alias Gerry, was raised from that of witness to suspect.

Johan added that the KPK wanted to question Kaligis as a witness on Monday but he failed to show up and KPK officers had to pick him up today.

"There was an urgent need to question OCK [Otto Cornelis Kaligis] as a suspect, that is why we issued a summons to bring OCK to the office," Johan said as quoted by kompas.com.

"He was picked up from a hotel in Lapangan Banteng [Central Jakarta]. We brought him to the office for questioning," Johan added.

Last Thursday, KPK arrested three judges -- Tripeni Irianto Putra, Amir Fauzi and Dermawan Ginting -- for allegedly receiving bribes from Gerry, a lawyer, who works for the OC Kaligis & Associates law firm.

During the arrest, KPK confiscated US$5,000 in cash in addition to $15,000 kept in one of the judges'€™ office.

Medan PTUN spokesperson, Sugianto Said, explained that the bribe was related to a lawsuit filed by North Sumatra provincial administration bureau head Ahmad Lubis with the court challenging the Attorney General Office'€™s (AGO) attempt to question Ahmad over alleged embezzlement of assistance funds at the provincial administration.

The court issued a ruling stating that the AGO'€™s attempt to question Ahmad was illegitimate, with the three arrested judges upholding Ahmad'€™s challenge.

Kaligis has admitted that Gerry worked in his office but he claimed he did know anything about the bribe. (ika)(+++)

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