TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Setya files pretrial motion against KPK, again
House of Representatives Speaker, Golkar Party chairman and graft suspect Setya Novanto has apparently resorted to the same tactic he used before to evade questioning over his alleged role in the e-D corruption case.
Change Size
First ruling: Judge Cepi Iskandar of the South Jakarta District Court issues his Sept. 29 ruling on the pretrial hearing that annulled Setya Novanto's suspect status. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
H
ouse of Representatives Speaker, Golkar Party chairman and graft suspect Setya Novanto has apparently resorted to the same tactic he used before to evade questioning over his alleged role in the e-ID corruption case.
Setya, whose whereabouts remain unknown and could be on the verge of being named as a fugitive on the KPK's wanted list, has filed another pretrial motion against the anti-graft body's decision last week to rename him as a suspect in the e-ID scandal.
A spokesman of the the South Jakarta District Court, Made Sutrisna, said on Thursday that Setya's lawyers had filed the pretrial motion on Tuesday.
"The names on the legal team are the same as those in his first pretrial [motion]," Made said.
If the court approves the motion and proceeds with a hearing, this would be the second time the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) faces Setya in a pretrial hearing, after the anti-graft body lost the first round in September.
Setya, a powerful politician who leads the nation's second largest party and one of the key allies of President Joko Widodo, has continued to challenge the KPK's attempts to question him on his alleged role in the high-profile e-ID graft case.
Setya has dodged at least 11 KPK summonses after being implicated in one of the biggest corruption cases ever handled by the anti-graft body. With Rp 2.3 trillion (US$ 175 million) in estimated state losses, it is one of the biggest graft cases in the country to date.
The South Jakarta District Court had yet to appoint a judge to handle the pretrial motion, said Made, who suggested that the court would likely rule out Judge Cepi Iskandar, who presided over the first pretrial hearing.
"Probably not [Cepi], so we can avoid a conflict of interest," he said.
In his Sept. 29 ruling on the first pretrial hearing, Cepi ruled in favor of Setya, declaring that the suspect status the KPK had imposed on Setya was unwarranted. (ahw)
