In his statement after KPK prosecutors read out the indictment, Patrialis claimed he had never received any money from meat-importing businessman Basuki Hariman, suspected of bribing the MK justice to rig the petition for judicial review.

“I swear to God that I never received any money, even a penny, from Basuki or Ng Fenny [Basuki's secretary]," Patrialis said at his first graft hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday.

(Read also: Constitutional Court ex-justice indicted for receiving $70,000 in bribes)

Patrialis denied further charges in the KPK indictment, which accused him of receiving bribes from Kamaludin, the suspected broker for Basuki and Patrialis in the case. The bribery defendant also denied any knowledge about fees worth Rp 2 billion [US$150,455] that prosecutors said Basuki had offered in return for his favorable ruling on the petition.

“Neither Basuki, Ng Fenny, nor Kamaludin spoke to me about the funds, including the promised fees. I don't have any knowledge about it. I only found out about the money when the [KPK] investigators questioned me,” Patrialis said.

Since Patrialis’s statement was not categorized as a defense statement, presiding judge Nawawi Pomolango said the panel of judges would not take note of the testimony and advised Patrialis to deliver his official defense statement at future hearings. (ebf)

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia