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Former antigraft czar looks forward to life after prison
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Former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Antasari Azhar speaks to journalists after Idul Fitri prayers at the Tangerang penitentiary on Wedndesday. Antasari was granted Idul Fitri remission by the government and is set to be released in September. (JP/Agnes Anya)
T
his year marks the seventh Idul Fitri that the country’s former antigraft commission head celebrated behind bars. Ahead of his upcoming release, Antasari Azhar looks at the positives of being looked up at the Tangerang penitentiary.
"There are lots of lessons I learned here, particularly after I became a mentor to other inmates," said Antasari, who several times was assigned by penitentiary officials to hold seminars for other inmates.
"I now can sincerely accept everything that happened in my life," he told The Jakarta Post at the Tangerang penitentiary on the first day of Idul Fitri.
Antasari was sentenced by the South Jakarta District Court to 18 years in prison in 2010 for masterminding the murder of business executive Nasrudin Zulkarnaen. Nasrudin, a director of state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Tangerang, Banten, on March 14, 2009.
Many suspect that Antasari was set up in a plot to prosecute him while he chaired the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Under his leadership, the KPK made a bold move to prosecute former deputy governor of Bank Indonesia Aulia Pohan, the in-law of then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in a bribery case.
Repeatedly maintaining his innocence and having exhausted all legal avenues of challenging the verdict, Antasari agreed to ask for clemency from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. However, the president was reluctant to grant him a pardon, as Antasari was no longer eligible to apply for the clemency.
Antasari received Idul Fitri remission on Wednesday, paving the way for him to be freed in September. After all of his efforts to defend himself in the case, he said he had come to terms with his fate.
"I won't continue my case. I have accepted it.”
"However, many parties are still determined to reveal the truth. I cannot stop them," he said.
Antasari expressed his desire to teach at several universities after his release to "share knowledge and experiences". But the main thing he looked forward to, he said, was to take care of his grandchildren, whom he had barely met during his time in prison.
"I just found that having grandchildren is more exciting than having children," he said with a laugh after Idul Fitri prayer at the prison. (rin)
