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Support grows for KPK to pursue Basarnas graft case
Public support is growing for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to continue investigating two Indonesian Military (TNI) officers whom it recently named suspects in a graft case related to equipment procurement for the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
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The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building in Jakarta is pictured on June 27, 2023. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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ublic support is growing for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to continue investigating two Indonesian Military (TNI) officers whom it recently named suspects in a graft case related to equipment procurement for the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
The KPK has said it will continue its investigation into the civilian suspects in the case while allowing the military police to handle the probe into Basarnas head Air Vice Marshal Henri Alfiandi and subordinate Lt. Col. Afri Budi Cahyanto, after the latter objected to the KPK naming TNI personnel suspects. The commission also plans to form a joint investigation team with the military police.
But experts and activists say the KPK should instead continue investigating Henri and Afri independently, citing Article 42 of the 2019 KPK Law, which stipulates that the KPK has the authority to coordinate and control corruption investigations and prosecutions, regardless of whether those implicated are civilians or soldiers.
Former deputy KPK chairman Bambang Widjojanto, who is now a law lecturer, said the KPK had the authority to carry on with investigation because the alleged acts of corruption occurred while the two military personnel were working at a non-military institution.
“Even if the alleged perpetrators are still active military members but the crime is committed together with civilians, the KPK still has the authority to lead and handle the investigation," Bambang said in a statement on Sunday.
A group of civil society organizations that includes Imparsial, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and Amnesty International Indonesia is pushing the KPK to investigate the two suspects thoroughly. They say the KPK’s treatment of this case could set an important precedent for future investigations involving military personnel.
"Handing the case over [to the TNI] could be a path for impunity for the two suspects from the military,” they said in a statement.
