T

he controversy surrounding the purchase of a British-made Augusta Westland (AW) 101 helicopter continues with the latest suspect named in the graft case claiming he had not been given a formal notification of his status.

Former Air Force chief of staff planning assistant First Marshall Supriyanto Basuki, who last week was named a suspect by the military police, said the case — which reportedly caused Rp 220 billion (US$16.4 million) in state losses — was being “politicized.”

Supriyanto is accused of insubordination, misuse of authority, and embezzlement, and was allegedly responsible for ordering his subordinates to continue the helicopter’s procurement process despite President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instructions to cancel the purchase.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Thursday, Supriyanto said the procurement had been in line with the Air Force’s five-year strategic plan (Renstra) for the 2015-2019 period.

A document on the chronology of the case prepared by a lawyer representing Supriyanto showed that both the House of Representatives and the government had approved the 2016 state budget, which included the AW 101 VVIP chopper for the Air Force.

After Jokowi rejected the plan in Dec. 2015 due to its high cost, the Finance Ministry suspended the allocated budget for the chopper’s procurement.

The blockade, however, was lifted on June 2016 after the Air Force changed the purchase from an AW 101 VVIP to a large baggage chopper, and the procurement process went on.

The alleged mark-up of
Rp 220 billion brought the project to Rp 738.9 billion, while the AW 101 helicopter was actually worth
Rp 525 billion, the document said.

The Rp 220 billion was reportedly intended to cover, among others, training for four pilots and eight technicians, a defense air system and the placement of two field service representatives from Rome-based aerospace, defense and security company Leonardo-Finmeccanica in Indonesia for two years.

On Sept. 14, 2016, Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo sent a letter to then Air Force Chief Air Marshal Agus Supriatna, asking the latter to cancel the contract, the document revealed.

Any procurement for the military requires approval from the Defense Ministry, but no one from the institution has been named a suspect.

Supriyanto, who once testified as a witness for the deputy governor of the Air Force Academy, First Marshall Fachri Adamy, another suspect in the case, said he was surprised to be put in the spotlight.

“They publicly announced my status as a suspect through a press release. Until today, however, I have never seen a written statement that declared me as a suspect,” Surpiyanto told The Jakarta Post.

Supriyanto was the fifth person to be named a suspect by the Military Police; the remaining four are all Air Force personnel.

In Feb. 24 this year, results of the investigation were released, concluding that the procurement and change in helicopter type met all of the standard requirements.

Urbanisasi, Supriyanto’s lawyer, questioned Gatot’s claim that the project had incurred
Rp 220 billion in state losses, saying that the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which holds the authority to declare state losses, had yet to issue the results of its audit at the time.

“Until today, the audit results of BPK’s investigation into the procurement has not been issued and [Supriyanto] has never been investigated as a suspect by the Military Police,” Urbanisasi said.

Meanwhile, Military Police Commander Maj. Gen. Dodik Wijanarko said the force is currently waiting for the BPK to hand over the results of the audit to Military Police investigators.