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KPK-TNI tension brews over graft case
Anonymous note accuses KPK of trespassing ‘in neighbor’s yard.
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ensions have come to a head between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Indonesian Military (TNI) after the antigraft body’s arrest of two active officers was met with the military’s insistence that the case be brought under its jurisdiction, prompting fresh concerns about the institution’s legacy of impunity.
The investigation into the alleged misappropriation of state funds at the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) is the latest incident to suggest that the military is regaining a grip on civilian affairs amid the erosion of the antigraft body’s authority.
The TNI’s objection to the arrest of Basarnas head Air Marshal Henri Alfiandi and his aide-de-camp, Lt. Col. Afri Budi Cahyanto, has been met with calls from the public for the military police to let the case be handled through civilian channels.
The two active military officers were named suspects in the initial investigation, which KPK chief Firli Bahuri insisted was carried out with the military’s knowledge.
But the KPK then seemed to buckle under the TNI’s pressure, with deputy chairman Johanis Tanak issuing a public apology for naming the officers suspects after military police chief Air Rear Marshal Agung Handoko and a group of military officers visited the KPK headquarters in Jakarta.
Johanis said afterwards that KPK investigators had “made a mistake and forgot that the military police must be involved in graft investigations involving military personnel”.
Another KPK executive, Alexander Marwata, received a bouquet of flowers, reportedly with a note purporting to congratulate him for trespassing “in the neighbor’s yard”. Alex said he did not know who the sender was but thanked them anyway.
In a joint press briefing on Monday with military police chief Agung at the TNI headquarters in East Jakarta, Firli of the KPK downplayed the incident and said the agency had asked National Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo to track down the sender of the flowers.
Agung said the TNI would work with the KPK to investigate the Basarnas case.
His institution had objected to the KPK’s naming of the suspects on Friday, but later, at a Monday briefing, he announced that the military police had named the two men suspects as well.
On Monday, Alexander of the KPK said that what mattered was that firm action was taken against anyone who violated the law, regardless of who they were.
“I’m also certain that the TNI won’t act recklessly considering this has made the news and the public is acutely aware of and following the development of the case,” he told reporters.
Growing concerns
The jurisdiction spat has reignited tensions from 2021 over a circular letter that then-TNI commander Andika Perkasa sent asserting that a soldier’s commanding officer must be informed ahead of time of any government effort to summon him or her.
It also stipulates that all questioning should be carried out in the presence of a military lawyer.
Henri, the main suspect in the case, has sought to publicly justify his actions.
He has been accused of accepting kickbacks from businesses in exchange for awarding them tenders for Basarnas procurement projects from 2021-2023 worth some Rp 88.3 billion (US$5.9 million) in total.
But on Thursday, he argued that the money was used in service of his office, and not for personal interest.
“I’m no angel, so everything was recorded clearly [by Afri],” he told reporters.
Zaenur Rohman, a researcher at Gadjah Mada University’s Center for Anti-Corruption Studies (Pukat UGM), urged the KPK to press on with the investigation.
“There is no room for threats in this era we are in, let alone violence and impunity,” he said on Monday.
Mochamad Praswad Nugraha of the IM57+, an antigraft watchdog group established by former KPK employees, said that any suggestion that military personnel assigned to nonmilitary posts could only be tried by the military was false and disingenuous.
He also suggested that the 1997 Military Court Law be revised to offer more certainty of jurisdiction for the prosecution of military personnel.
“Otherwise, there’s no equality before the law,” Praswad told The Jakarta Post.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has issued a statement on the dispute, calling for an evaluation of the “coordination issue”.
In response to a journalist’s question whether the assignment of military personnel to non-military posts would also be evaluated, the President said the inquiry would be far-reaching.
“We will evaluate all of the issues, as we do not want corruption to occur in other strategic posts,” Jokowi said in Jakarta on Monday.
The case coincides with a resurgence of military personnel in civilian roles, a trend that has picked up under the Jokowi administration and which has been met with concern, given the TNI’s history of interfering in political affairs.
The TNI is in the process of drafting a bill to revise the 2004 TNI Law so that military officers are able to hold posts at any of 18 government institutions, Kompas.com reported.
According to Article 42 of the current law, members of the military may be assigned to any of 10 nonmilitary institutions, including Basarnas, the Supreme Court and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN).
