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Setya Novanto skips questioning at AGO
Suspect: Golkar Party politician Setya Novanto talks to journalists after submitting his resignation as House of Representatives speaker at a plenary meeting at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Dec
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Suspect: Golkar Party politician Setya Novanto talks to journalists after submitting his resignation as House of Representatives speaker at a plenary meeting at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Dec. 18, 2015.(Kompas.com/Ihsanuddin) (Kompas.com/Ihsanuddin)
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span class="inline inline-center">Suspect: Golkar Party politician Setya Novanto talks to journalists after submitting his resignation as House of Representatives speaker at a plenary meeting at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Dec. 18, 2015.(Kompas.com/Ihsanuddin)
The lawyer of former House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto, Firman Wijaya, has confirmed that the Golkar Party politician would not abide by an Attorney General's Office (AGO) summons for questioning scheduled for Wednesday.
'He cannot yet fulfill the AGO summons because his summonsing was premature,' Firman said as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The AGO had intended to question the Golkar deputy chairman over an alleged conspiracy surrounding gold and copper mining firm Freeport's contract extension negotiations, which involved oil tycoon Muhammad Reza Chalid.
Firman said the AGO had previously sent a letter to President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, asking for his permission to examine Setya. However, President Jokowi had not yet responded to the AGO's request, he said.
'The Attorney General [Prasetyo] has sent a permission request letter to President Jokowi. Why can't we respect our presidential institution? There is also a time limit on the issuance of the permit but why does the attorney general have such an attitude?' asked the lawyer.
Firman further explained that in fulfilling a prosecutor's summons, a suspect was not required to appear at the AGO. He or she could respond to questions raised by prosecutors via a written statement.
In its summons letter, the AGO said it would ask Setya about several issues related to the Freeport mining contract extension.
Firman said, however, that it would be more appropriate for the AGO to seek information about Freeport's contract extension from Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said.
Therefore, he said, it was likely that Setya would give the AGO a written explanation. Firman added that Setya was able to skip the questioning and give only a written explanation to the AGO because the investigation was still at a preliminary stage.
'Giving only a written explanation during questioning is allowed by existing laws. It's legal,' he said.
A transcript of a recorded conversation between Setya, Freeport president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin and Reza, which was handed by Sudirman to the House's ethics council, suggested that Setya had promised to facilitate the extension of Freeport's mining contract ' set to expire in 2021 ' provided the company gave 11 percent of its shares to President Jokowi and 9 percent to Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Firman said one reason that Setya refused to attend the questioning was because he considered the audio recording, which was used as evidence in the AGO's investigation, to be illegal.
'The AGO is examining Pak Novanto based on an audio recording file we deem illegal. How can it examine someone based on illegal evidence?' asked Firman.
During hearings for Setya's case at the ethics council in December 2015, several council members called into a question the validity of the transcript and audio recording. (ebf)(+)
