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Embattled minister strikes back at KPK
Former agriculture minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo is bringing the fight to the KPK with testimony accusing its leadership of extortion.
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Former South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo leaves the State Palace on Oct. 22, 2019, after being named agriculture minister in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's second-term cabinet. Syahrul resigned from the cabinet almost four years after his appointment in response to a corruption probe implicating him. (JP/Donny Fernando/Adi)
Former agriculture minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who many believed would surrender to his fate when he tendered his resignation over a money laundering probe at his former office, has decided to bring the fight to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with testimony accusing its leadership of extortion.
The allegations came amid reports that Syahrul would soon be named a suspect in the case, after investigators raided his office and private residence recently in search of incriminating evidence. Syahrul was on a working trip in Europe at the time and returned a few days afterwards, following a brief spell in which he reportedly went missing.
Hours before he submitted his resignation on Thursday, Syahrul appeared at the Jakarta Police headquarters to aid in an investigation into the KPK leadership, which was overseeing the probe at the Agriculture Ministry.
After his testimony, the police acknowledged that the probe into alleged extortion by the KPK had in fact started on Aug. 12 of last year following a complaint by citizens.
“So far, we have sought to verify information from six people, one of them being the [former] agriculture minister,” said Comr. Gen. Ade Safri Simanjuntak, director for special crimes at the Jakarta Police, on Thursday.
“He has been summoned three times to give his account.”
The police declined to disclose the identity of the people who had lodged the complaint, citing confidentiality and the sensitivity of the case, considering that KPK officials were being accused of blackmail. Safri also refused to identify the KPK commissioner who had been implicated.
