Investigators of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) searched the residence of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Secretary General, Hasto Kristiyanto, in Bekasi, West Java, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 as part of the investigation into a bribery case involving fugitive legislative candidate Harun Masiku.
The anti-corruption commission named Hasto on December 24, 2024 as suspect in the case, which centers on the bribery allegations against Hasto and Masiku in connection with procedural replacement of Nazaruddin Kiemas, a PDI-P legislative candidate who had passed away before being elected as member of the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2019-2024 term.
Masiku, who ranked sixth in the list of potential replacement candidates for Nazaruddin, allegedly bribed a senior official of the General Elections Commission (KPU) for his appointment as elected DPR legislator replacing the deceased candidate, with the support of Hasto. The move apparently bypassed the constitutional procedure that the next lawful replacement candidate is the one ranked second on the list.
Mohammad Guntur Romli, PDI-P Spokesperson, accused that the search of Hasto’s house by the KPK was politically motivated, coinciding with the issue of the inclusion of the name of the 7th President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo in the nominations for the list of the most corrupt figures in 2024 according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Guntur claimed that PD-IP received information that Jokowi was disturbed and angry because his name was in the OCCRP list and did everything he could to cover up the news.
“There are news portals that are intimidated to delete the news, the deployment of buzzers on social media to discredit OCCRP and parties who support the OCCRP announcement to be continued by law enforcement,” he said on Tuesday.
According to him, currently there are attempts to intimidate parties who want law enforcement to immediately investigate alleged corruption and money laundering of Jokowi and his family. On this basis, the search of Hasto’s house is an attempt to divert the issue.
Previously, the KPK opened the option of issuing an arrest warrant for Hasto if he again did not comply with investigators’ summons.
Hasto was supposed to come for questioning by KPK investigators on Monday, January 6, 2025. He did not show up, but wrote to the KPK regarding the reason for his absence.
Ronny Talapessy, Deputy PDI-P Chairman for Legal Affairs, said that Hasto had a previously scheduled agenda. He ensured that PDI-P and Hasto would comply with the legal processes, but requested that the KPK reschedule the questioning after Friday, January 10, 2025, which is PDI-P’s anniversary.
