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Setya Novanto sued by his own lawyer for failing to pay legal fees
The attorney is serving seven years and six months in prison for obstruction of justice.
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Setya Novanto's former attorney, Fredrich Yunadi, attends Setya’s first hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Feb. 8, 2018. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
L
awyer Fredrich Yunadi has filed a lawsuit against former House of Representatives speaker and graft convict Setya Novanto and his wife, Deisti Astriani, seeking trillions of rupiah in allegedly unpaid legal fees and other damages for his services in the high-profile e-ID graft case.
The attorney’s lawsuit was filed with the South Jakarta District Court on March 20.
“[I hereby demand that the court] declare the actions of Defendant I and Defendant II, who did not pay all of the fees for the attorney’s services to the Plaintiff, a default,” read the suit, which appeared on the South Jakarta District Court website on Saturday.
Fredrich, who was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for obstruction of justice during his representation of Setya in 2018, demanded that the court order Setya and Deisti to pay for material losses of Rp 27 billion (US$1.89 million) in addition to immaterial losses. He calculated the alleged losses based on 14 legal services he claimed to have performed, minus the Rp 1 billion that had already been paid.
Fredrich asked that the figure include the lost interest accrual over the period at a 2 percent standard bank rate –from when he submitted a summons to Setya in October 2019 to the eventual reading of the verdict of the lawsuit.
In immaterial losses, Fredrich demanded that Setya pay Rp 2,256 trillion. The calculation was based on the opportunity costs that would be incurred by serving seven years and six months in prison, including the loss of Rp 25 billion per month in the lawyer’s income, and the payment of Rp 500 million in fines.
Fredrich asked that the couple be fined Rp 100 million per day if they did not comply with the court's ultimate decision. He also asked that the court approve the seizure of some of Setya's assets as collateral.
The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Setya to 15 years in prison in 2018 after he was found guilty of malfeasance in the Rp 5.9 trillion e-ID project, which reportedly led to Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses.
