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KPK prosecutors indict former House deputy speaker Azis in bribery case
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors indicted senior Golkar Party politician and former House of Representatives deputy speaker Azis Syamsuddin on the charge of bribing a lawyer and then-KPK investigator to evade an investigation into a graft case in Central Lampung.
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Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators bring in former House of Representatives deputy speaker Azis Syamsuddin from the Golkar Party for questioning at the KPK headquarters on Sept. 24. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
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orruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors indicted senior Golkar Party politician and former House of Representatives deputy speaker Azis Syamsuddin on the charge of bribing a lawyer and then-KPK investigator to evade an investigation into a graft case in Central Lampung.
In a trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday, prosecutors accused Azis of paying Rp 3.09 billion (US$213,880) and $36,000 in bribes last year to then-investigator Stepanus Robin Pattuju, a police officer who at the time was seconded to the KPK, and lawyer Maskur Husain. The kickbacks were allegedly delivered in several batches between August last year and March of this year.
"Knowing that he, along with Aliza Gunado, was suspected of being involved in a graft case in Central Lampung in 2017, he tried to prevent himself and Aliza from being named suspects by the KPK," one of the prosecutors said as quoted by kompas.id.
The prosecutor added that Azis later sought help from another police officer to introduce him to Stepanus.
Aliza is reportedly also a Golkar member.
The offense is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. Azis did not demur.
Azis was arrested by KPK investigators at his residence in South Jakarta on the evening of Sept. 24 after refusing to answer a summons for questioning in the graft investigation in Central Lampung. He cited self-isolation after being in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19 as the reason for his request for a postponement of the summons earlier that day. But a KPK team discovered that he had tested negative for COVID-19 and brought him in for questioning.
