The Metropolitan Jakarta Regional Police have scheduled an examination of the Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Firli Bahuri, on Friday, October 20, 2023.
Firli is being examined in connection with a suspected extortion case involving the former Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo.
“A summons has been sent to Firli Bahuri in his capacity as the Chairman of the Indonesian KPK,” said Commissioner General Ade Safri Simanjuntak, the Director of Special Criminal Investigation at the Metro Jaya Regional Police, at the Metro Jaya Regional Police headquarters on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
The summons for Firli was sent simultaneously with the examination schedule for his aide, Kevin Egananta Joshua. The summons was also sent on the same day for the examination of the Chief of the Semarang City Police Resort, Commissioner General Irwan Anwar. Kevin and Irwan are suspected of acting as intermediaries between Firli and Syahrul, including in the transfer of money in the case.
Kevin’s name was brought into public attention by Firli in relation to allegations of money exchange during the investigation of corruption cases at the Ministry of Agriculture, which also implicated Syahrul.
Allegation of extortion by KPK leader
The KPK is investigating alleged extortion and gratification within the Ministry of Agriculture. During the investigation of corruption cases at the Ministry of Agriculture, Syahrul apparently reported alleged extortion by Firli.
Detailed information about the extortion came from a confession letter by the Director of Equipment and Machinery at the Directorate General of Infrastructure and Agricultural Facilities at the Ministry of Agriculture, Muhamad Hatta, on October 1st.
The roles of Kevin and Irwan reportedly originated from Hatta’s explanations in a letter to the investigators at the Metro Jaya Regional Police. Irwan is said to have arranged meetings between Syahrul and Firli. In addition to these meetings, there are allegations of money exchanges occurring in three stages, which are suspected to have taken place in October and December 2022.
Ade Safri explained that out of the 19 summoned witnesses in connection with this case, 16 attended. One of the witnesses examined on the previous Wednesday was the Deputy Chairman of the KPK from 2007-2011, Mochamad Jasin.
The importance of corruption crime report timeline
In addition to Jasin, the investigative team from the Metro Jaya Regional Police gathered information from Saut Situmorang, the Deputy Chairman of the KPK from 2015-2019. Saut mentioned that the investigative team inquired about how reports from the public were processed and reached the KPK’s leadership.
He explained that the case is directly addressed when public reports are received and reviewed by the Directorate of Public Service and Complaints of the KPK. The progress of each stage is reported to the KPK leadership.
According to Saut, the KPK leadership should already be aware of the case’s developments, including the prospective suspects being investigated by the KPK’s team. Therefore, there should be no reason for the KPK leadership not to know who is under investigation.
The investigation into corruption at the Ministry of Agriculture began in September 2023. “However, public reports to the KPK started in 2021,” said Saut.
The alleged badminton court meeting between Firli and Syahrul is said to have taken place in August 2022. Therefore, according to Saut, their second meeting occurred while the KPK’s case process was already underway. “So, the initiation of case handling refers to when public reports were filed,” he stated.
Saut believes that proving the extortion allegations is more challenging than charging Firli under Article 36 of the KPK Law. However, the use of Article 36 also raises the question of when a case should be addressed, whether it is after public reports, during the investigative phase, or when the formal investigation begins.
He emphasized that addressing corruption cases at the Ministry of Agriculture did not commence during the investigation phase but when public reports were received in 2021. Therefore, according to Saut, Firli’s meeting with Syahrul can be considered a violation of the rules because it occurred while the investigation was already in progress.
