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Analysis: Harun Masiku manhunt a litmus test for new KPK leadership
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A worker cleans a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) sign on April 25, 2024, at the commission's headquarters in Jakarta. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
T
he yearslong manhunt for graft suspect Harun Masiku has taken a new twist as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), under new leadership, grilled former law and human rights minister Yasonna Laoly in connection with the case, which is believed to implicate senior members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The investigation into alleged bribery during a process to submit substitute candidates for the 2019 legislative election has seen little progress since Harun, a PDI-P politician, went on the run in early 2020. The KPK resumed the probe just recently, at the height of tensions between the PDI-P and former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, by questioning PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto, a staunch Jokowi critic.
The KPK has kept Harun on its wanted list, with the addition of detailed physical characteristics and multiple photographs, rather than just one image. Shortly after, KPK investigators summoned Yasonna, now a PDI-P lawmaker in the House of Representatives, for questioning as a witness. His questioning was originally scheduled for Dec. 13, but Yasonna could only appear on Dec. 18.
Harun’s whereabouts has been unknown since 2020, when he was detected traveling to Singapore and returning to Indonesia, and Yasonna led the ministry overseeing immigration. This has led to speculation that the PDI-P leadership, with all the power at its disposal at the time, helped cover his tracks.
Yasonna said KPK investigators did not ask him about Harun’s whereabouts during seven hours of questioning, and instead quizzed him about his executive responsibilities in the PDI-P. Nevertheless, Yasonna said he provided the KPK with data related to Harun’s movements.
That the KPK has now shifted its focus on the PDI-P’s top brass like Yasonna and Hasto sends a signal about possible political motives behind its recently revived probe. Unsurprisingly, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri has vowed to fight the alleged politicization of Harun’s case, saying she would go to the KPK if it detained Hasto.
Harun was named as a suspect for allegedly providing Rp 1.5 billion (US$91,665) in bribes in 2020 to Wahyu Setiawan, who was then a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU), to secure a vacant House seat left by Nazaruddin Kiemas, Megawati’s brother-in-law, who died just a month before the elections. The PDI-P pushed for Harun to replace Nazaruddin, but the KPU gave the seat to Riezky Aprilia in line with the Elections Law.
