Like a cat with its mythical nine lives, Golkar Party chairman and House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto, a key ally of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, has managed to escape even the most severe tests to his political survival.

He dodged the bullet yet again on Friday after the South Jakarta District Court issued a petition to revoke his suspect status in a graft case touted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as the country’s biggest — in terms of state losses — in at least a decade.

With the court’s decision, the KPK can no longer continue its prosecution against Setya based on the current evidence.

“[I hereby] partially grant the plaintiff’s motion, ordering the defendant [KPK] to stop their investigation of Setya Novanto,” sole judge Cepi Iskandar said during the reading of the ruling, which has raised a chorus of condemnation from antigraft activists who deemed the outcome a travesty of justice.

However, Cepi denied Setya’s request for the KPK to revoke its travel ban on him.

The ruling ultimately hinged on evidence used by the KPK to name Setya a suspect, but Cepi argued that the evidence was inadmissible because it had been taken from cases that implicated parties who have now been convicted, namely former Home Ministry officials Irman and Sugiharto.

Cepi suggested that the KPK collect new evidence.

Popular

Furniture exporters decry new quarantine rule

Explore nearby, spend wisely: intra-provincial travel boom

Jokowi faces storm of lawsuits six months after stepping down