Romy — once an ally of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo — read out his defense statement during a hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday. He stands accused of influencing Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin to promote two officials, who allegedly gave Romy Rp 300 million (US$22,000) in return for his support.

Romy has challenged the accusations, claiming he simply made recommendations to Lukman. To prove his point, Romy revealed an encounter he had with a former KPK commissioner in 2015.

Romy said the individual had sought to use Romy’s influence as PPP chairman to convince lawmakers to vote for them as a KPK commissioner for the 2015-2019 period.

“The person came to my house and asked for my help to make a recommendation [for them] to several political party leaders,” Romy said during the hearing led by presiding judge Fahzal Hendri.

“I believe that recommending public figures to state officials is not a crime.”

“As a party chairman, I have received a lot of requests from people wanting me to help them get their family members or colleagues prominent positions in the government — not only by [recommending the names to] the religious affairs minister but also to other officials,” he added.

In his statement, Romy asked the Jakarta Corruption Court to drop the corruption charges against him, which carry a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp 250 million.

“I demand the judges drop the charges as I did not take bribes,” Romy said.

“Yes, I gave recommendations [to Lukman] for the heads of regional religious affairs offices, but this was not an act of intervention,” he added.

Romy also pointed out that at the time he served as a member of the House of Representatives Commission XI overseeing the state budget and financial sectors. Meanwhile, the Religious Affairs Ministry is under the supervision of the House Commission VIII.

“Therefore, I don’t understand why the prosecutors have accused me of intervening in the promotion process at the ministry, particularly as I didn’t have any power to do so,” said the 45-year-old politician.

The officials in question — Haris Hasanudin and Muafaq Wirahadi — have been sentenced to two years and one-and-a-half years in prison for bribery, respectively.

Haris was found guilty of giving Romy Rp 255 million to secure his promotion as the head of the East Java religious affairs office. Muafaq, meanwhile, was found guilty of channeling Rp 91.4 million to Romy to become the head of the Gresik religious affairs office in East Java.

Romy admitted to have receiving Rp 250 million from Haris on Feb. 6, but said he returned the money via his staffer Norman Zein Nahdi after realizing that Haris had attempted to bribe him.

Regarding his connection to Muafaq, Romy claimed he never received a bribe. A KPK investigation previously found that Muafaq handed Rp 41.1 million to Romy’s cousin and PPP member Abdul Wahab in Gresik, East Java, and the remaining Rp 50 million to Romy’s aide Amin Nuryadi at The Bumi Surabaya Hotel in Surabaya, East Java.

“As you [the judges] can see from [The Bumi Surabaya Hotel] CCTV footage that has been presented before the court, I didn’t receive the money. The prosecutors assumed I received the bribe just because Muafaq claimed I had received the money,” he added.

Maqdir Ismail, one of Romy’s lawyers, claimed his client was innocent, arguing Romy would never commit any wrongdoing that could harm the credibility of the PPP, one of the oldest political parties in the country.

“The PPP was established in 1973, so I don’t think it’s possible Romy, as the leader of the party, would risk the PPP’s reputation by committing an act of corruption,” Maqdir told reporters after the hearing.

“Why would he risk the PPP’s name for [less than] Rp 400 million, which is not a significant amount? Therefore, we believe he wouldn’t put his party at stake by taking the money” he added. (glh)

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