T

he Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has lambasted the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which is now led by former police general Taufiequrachman Ruki, for transferring the Hambalang sports complex graft probe to the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO).

ICW researcher Emerson Yuntho said that the transfer was a departure from the antigraft body'€™s commitments while still under the leadership of suspended chairman Abraham Samad.

Ruki'€™s leadership gained notoriety in March after he decided to transfer the KPK'€™s probe into Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, now the deputy National Police chief, to the AGO, which later gave the case to the police, just weeks after he was appointed KPK acting chairman replacing Abraham.

Recently, the National Police announced that it had dropped the investigation into Budi due to the '€œlack of supporting evidence'€.

Emerson questioned Ruki'€™s recent decision to transfer the Hambalang case to the AGO as the case potentially could implicate Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) treasurer Olly Dondokambey, who has been in the KPK'€™s investigation cross hairs under the leadership of Abraham, who last year said that it was just a matter of time before the KPK would charge Olly in the case after investigators had collected enough evidence on his involvement.

'€œThere is a tendency that under Ruki'€™s leadership big cases are taken out of the KPK in the name of a probe transfer for the sake of better coordination with other law enforcement institutions. This is a setback for the KPK. Hambalang, as we know, is linked to a political party. We deplore the decision,'€ Emerson said on Sunday.

Despite the fact that the Hambalang probe was transferred to the AGO in February, the KPK only announced the transfer Friday.

KPK investigations into the graft-ridden construction of the Rp 2.5 trillion Hambalang sports complex have seen former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng imprisoned for receiving illicit funds from the Hambalang project, some of which were also allegedly enjoyed by Olly in his capacity as House of Representatives lawmaker.

In addition, Olly was accused of accepting two wooden dining table sets from state-owned construction enterprise PT Adhi Karya, which he had allegedly helped win the Hambalang project. The furniture was confiscated by the KPK during a search of his house in September 2013.

Acting KPK deputy chairman Johan Budi defended the transfer saying that the antigraft body did not transfer the whole probe to the AGO, but only a particular part of the investigation.

'€œWe have investigated the construction of the Hambalang project and its budgeting process [at the House] and the part we transferred to the AGO is related to procurement projects on Hambalang building facilities,'€ Johan said over the weekend.