T

he legal aide of senior lawyer Otto Cornelis Kaligis has agreed to serve as a justice collaborator, further fueling speculation that Kaligis was the mastermind behind an alleged bribery case involving three judges in Medan, North Sumatra.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Tuesday that investigators had recommended Kaligis'€™ subordinate, Yagari '€œGerry'€ Bhastara, to be a justice collaborator after he volunteered to become one last week.

'€œYesterday [the offer] was discussed by the KPK investigators and they wanted their offer to be approved,'€ KPK acting commissioner Johan Budi told reporters at the commission'€™s headquarters in Ku-
ningan, South Jakarta.

The KPK arrested and detained Gerry alongside Medan State Administrative Court (PTUN) head Tripeni Irianto Putro and judges Amir Fauzi and Dermawan Ginting during a sting operation last month in Medan after the judges allegedly accepted US$20,000 in bribes from Gerry.

Gerry, a lawyer from Kaligis'€™ law firm, represented Ahmad Fuad Lubis, a former North Sumatra administration official who had challenged an investigation order from the local prosecutor'€™s office.

The prosecutors had launched a probe against Fuad in relation to alleged embezzlement of social assistance funds in the administration. Based on government administration laws, only the PTUN has the authority to investigate abuses of power by civil servants. The three judges of the Medan PTUN later ruled that the prosecutor'€™s probe was an abuse of power.

Gerry was allegedly delivering the bribe money to Tripeni'€™s room when the KPK raided them.

Kaligis was then arrested and detained a few days later after the KPK found evidence that he had orchestrated a scheme to bribe the judges.

The possibility of Gerry serving as a justice collaborator indicated that he was not the main actor in the bribery case.

'€œ[To become a justice collaborator], one has to be cooperative and able to give data that could uncover other cases. Moreover, he or she is not the main actor [in the case],'€ Johan said.

Furthermore, North Sumatra Governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho, a senior member of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and his second wife Evi Susanti, both of whom have been named suspects in the case, also accused Kaligis of being the mastermind behind the attempted bribery.

'€œBu Evi and Pak Gatot don'€™t want to be called initiators, the actors or the brains behind the bribery. Kaligis is actually the one who had the initiative to file a lawsuit at the PTUN,'€ said Gatot and Evi'€™s
lawyer, Razman Arif Nasution, on Tuesday.

He said that Kaligis succeeded in persuading both Gatot and Evi to file the lawsuit by saying there would be a restoration of justice, even though they initially refused to do so.

Moreover, Razman said that Evi wrote a letter to Kaligis which included details of the case, including the role of Kaligis as well as a meeting between Gatot, Kaligis, North Sumatra Deputy Governor Tengku Erry Nuradi and Nasdem Party chairman Surya Paloh.

He said that the meeting had to be revealed as it was part of the narrative of the case.

During the meeting, Surya and Kaligis, who used to chair the Nasdem Party'€™s board of advisors before quitting from the second highest post in the party, tried to mediate between Gatot and Tengku.

Tengku denied the allegations. '€œEveryone can mention names,'€ he said on Tuesday, declining to comment further on the alleged letter.

So far, Kaligis has refused to fulfill KPK summons for questioning as a witness in the case.
_____________________________

Gerry was allegedly delivering the bribe money to Tripeni'€™s room when the KPK raided them.