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Suryadharma says he only borrows money
Watch out: Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali gestures to photojournalists from inside the Corruption Eradication Commissionâs (KPK) detainee car transporting him back to the antigraft bodyâs detention center in Guntur, South Jakarta
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Watch out: Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali gestures to photojournalists from inside the Corruption Eradication Commissionâs (KPK) detainee car transporting him back to the antigraft bodyâs detention center in Guntur, South Jakarta. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak) (KPK) detainee car transporting him back to the antigraft bodyâs detention center in Guntur, South Jakarta. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak)
Watch out: Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali gestures to photojournalists from inside the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) detainee car transporting him back to the antigraft body's detention center in Guntur, South Jakarta. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak)
Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali maintains that he did nothing wrong when he spent the ministry's operational funds, saying that he only borrowed the funds and had since returned them.
'If I took the funds for personal use, then they should be considered funds owed. I have proof that I returned the money,' he told reporters on Friday.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Suryadharma a graft suspect in early July in a new case centering on the alleged embezzlement of operational funds at the Religious Affairs Ministry.
The decision to name him a suspect was made during an in-depth investigation into a graft case related to 2012-2013 haj pilgrimage funds at the ministry, in which Suryadharma was allegedly involved and had previously been named a suspect.
The KPK named Suryadharma a suspect in the haj graft case in May last year.
As for Suryadharma's haj fund graft case, the KPK has wrapped its investigation and is ready to bring the case to court.
Suryadharma has repeatedly questioned the KPK's move to name him a suspect in the haj graft case.
'The KPK issued an investigation letter in May last year but also named me a suspect almost at the same time,' he said, adding that the antigraft body should have investigated the case before coming to the conclusion.
He also said that the KPK had thus far failed to present evidence to back up its accusations.
According to the KPK's investigation, Suryadharma's alleged actions had cost the country Rp 1.8 trillion (US$132.8 million) in the haj corruption case.
Suryadharma said that the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) had yet to calculate state losses in the case.
In February, Suryadharma filed a pretrial petition at the South Jakarta District Court to challenge the KPK's move in naming him a suspect.
The sole judge at the court, Tatik Hadiyanti, however, rejected his petition, saying that the pretrial hearing had no authority to challenge a law enforcement institution's decision to name someone a suspect.
Tatik's ruling contradicts an earlier pretrial ruling by another South Jakarta District Court judge, Sarpin Rizaldi, whose decision in February annulled the suspect status of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan in a bribery case and released him from KPK investigation.
According to Suryadharma's lawyer, Humphrey Djemat, Tatik had failed to use her independence as a judge to make 'legal innovation' through her interpretation of Article 77 of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), like Sarpin did.
However, Tatik argued that 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 request for compensation and rehabilitation. (ind)
