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KPK council finds Firli guilty of ethics breach in Syahrul bribery case
The KPK supervisory council has issued a punitive recommendation that suspended KPK chair Firli resign from his position, the maximum punishment it is authorized to hand down, after finding him guilty of ethical violations at a hearing on Wednesday.
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Firli Bahuri (center), the suspended chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), gestures to waiting reporters on Dec. 21, 2023 as he leaves the offices of the KPK supervisory council in Jakarta. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) supervisory council has handed down a severe punishment recommending that suspended chairman Firli Bahuri resign from his post, after it found that he had committed an ethics violation in relation to the antigraft body’s investigation into Syahrul Yasin Limpo.
At a hearing on Wednesday, the council ruled that Firli had violated the KPK’s code of ethics when he met with Syahrul while the former agriculture minister was being investigated for alleged corruption at the Agriculture Ministry. It deemed the action presented a conflict of interest.
“Firli Bahuri has been proven guilty and convincingly of violating the code of ethics for having close contact with Syahrul Yasin Limpo, whose case is being handled by the KPK, and failing to notify other fellow commissioners,” council chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said while reading out the ruling on Wednesday.
The KPK supervisory council also concluded that Firli had met with Syahrul at least three times since the commission started looking into the former minister in 2021, though the formal investigation only commenced in January this year.
The pair first met in February 2021 at a house Firli rented on Jl. Kertanegara in South Jakarta. They met again in May that year at Firli’s private residence in Bekasi, West Java.
Firli and Syahrul’s final meeting took place in March 2022 at a badminton court in West Jakarta, a photo of which went viral after the KPK named Syahrul as a bribery suspect in October.
Syahrul has been in the KPK’s custody since he was named as a suspect for allegedly receiving up to US$10,000 in illicit monthly payments from Agriculture Ministry officials. He and his subordinates are believed to have used the money to pay credit card bills and installments for Syahrul’s private luxury car.
