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Jokowi backs AGO in dropping prosecution of ex-graft busters
President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo stepped in on Thursday to lend support to Attorney General M
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President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo stepped in on Thursday to lend support to Attorney General M. Prasetyo in his dropping of prosecutions against former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders.
Prasetyo backtracked on Thursday from his prerogative decision to drop the cases in the public interest, known as deponering, following opposition from legislators to whom Prasetyo had sent a letter demanding support for the clearing of the suspect statuses of former KPK chairman Abraham Samad and his deputy Bambang Widjojanto.
The House of Representatives Commission III overseeing security and legal affairs immediately refused Prasetyo's request, arguing that the attorney general was attempting to share the risk with the House should the deponering turn out to be problematic in the future.
Presidential spokesperson Johan Budi reminded Prasetyo, however, that dropping the case was the prerogative of the attorney general and no political backing was necessary to support such a decision.
'The rejection from the House members is just their opinion. They cannot overrule the decision and it is not required for the government to seek their approval,' said Johan.
'The President has allowed the AGO to make a decision on the cases [after the House rejection] based on existing legal avenues. The deponering is one of those legal options,' said Johan, a former KPK commissioner.
Aside from Jokowi's instruction, public calls have also mounted for Prasetyo to drop the cases ' cases mounted by the National Police against the two KPK leaders for trivial offenses in retaliation for the agency naming then National Police education and training chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a bribery suspect in January last year.
Budi is a close friend of Jokowi's patron Megawati Soekarnoputri, supreme leader of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
During a standoff between the police and the KPK, Abraham and Bambang were charged for minor offences and forced to leave their posts at the antigraft agency.
Bambang was charged with perjury relating to a local election dispute when he was working as a lawyer, while Abraham was named a suspect for document forgery.
Commission III members held a meeting after receiving Prasetyo's letter, responding in unison that the House should not be involved in the deponering decision as it was the prerogative of the attorney general.
'There is actually no public interest at all in the dropping of the cases,' Commission III chairman Bambang Soesatyo said.
'It is different when the AGO proposed a deponering for former KPK commissioners Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah as they were still active KPK leaders at that time, meaning their cases carried public interest.'
Bibit and Chandra were named suspects when the KPK and the National Police were in another standoff back in 2009 during the leadership of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Unlike Abraham and Bambang, whose cases were left in limbo until their tenure at the KPK expired, Bibit and Chandra were restored as KPK leaders after the AGO issued a deponering in 2010. 'If the attorney general is confident in his prerogative rights then go ahead and don't involve or ask us for support. Don't share the political risk with us,' Commission III member Asrul said.
KPK commissioner Laode Muhammad Syarif applauded the AGO for the plan. 'We really appreciate the AGO's decision.'
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