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Elections: President Widodo Ordered Halt to eKTP Graft Investigation, Former Anti-Graft Head, Kompas

“Mr. Agus offered an apology, and said he felt everything needed to be clear. “I think this is the first time I’ve disclosed this in the media, in front of so many people,” Agus said in an interview with the well-known media personality Rosi on her television talk show on Kompas TV on Thursday…”

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Former Corruption Commission Head Agus Rahardjo Alleges President Joko Widodo Ordered Halt to eKTP Graft Investigation1 Into House Speaker Setya Novanto in 2017

By Syakirun Ni’am and Ihsanuddin for Kompas.com, December 1, 2023

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Former Chair of Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from 2015 to 2019, Mr. Agus Rahardjo, claims he was called on by President Joko Widodo to halt the e-KTP corruption case involving House Speaker Setya Novanto2.

At the time, Mr. Setya Novanto was Speaker of Indonesia’s House of Representatives and the Chair of the Golkar Party, a member of the ruling coalition of political parties supporting President Widodo. He was named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission on July 17, 20173.

Prior to disclosing the allegation, Mr. Agus offered an apology, and said he felt everything needed to be set straight. “I think this is the first time I’ve disclosed this in the media, in front of so many people,” Agus said in an interview with the well-known media personality Rosi on the television talk show Rosi on Kompas TV on Thursday (30/11/2023).4

“I am being honest here. During the e-KTP case, I was called by the president by myself. The President was accompanied by Mr. Pratikno5 (Minister for the State Secretariat6),” Mr. Agus continued.

At the time, Mr. Agus was surprised as the President usually summoned all five Corruption Eradication Commission leaders at the same time, however this time he was the only one summoned.

Furthermore, he was directed to enter the Presidential office building through the mosque entrance instead of the usual way, through the media area.

On entering the meeting room, Mr. Agus found President Widodo already furious.

He was baffled and didn’t understand President Widodo’s intention.

Only after sitting down did he realize that President Widodo wanted the case against House Speaker Setya Novanto, often referred to as “Setnov”, to be halted by the Corruption Eradication Commission.

“The President was already angry and immediately said, ‘Stop it!’ as soon as I entered,” Agus disclosed.

“I was puzzled; what should I stop? Only after I sat down did I realize that what he (President Widodo) wanted stopped was the case against Mr. Setnov,” Agus continued.

However, Mr. Agus refused President Widodo’s order. He clarified that the Investigation Order (referred to by its acronym as a “Sprindik“) for the e-KTP case involving Mr. Setnov had been issued three weeks earlier. Moreover, at the time, there was no mechanism for the Corruption Eradication Commission to issue a Discontinuance of Investigation Order (an “SP3” order) in its legal regulations.

“I honestly said that the Sprindik had already been issued three weeks earlier by the Commission, and there was no SP3. It was impossible for me to terminate it,” Mr. Agus asserted. In response, President Widodo then turned to Mr. Pratikno, asking about the meaning of Sprindik.

“Pratikno, what is a Sprindik?” Mr. Agus quoted President Widodo’s question.

The meeting yielded no results as Mr. Agus refused the President’s direction.

Kompas.com reached out to the Minister for the State Secretariat, Mr. Pratikno, about Agus’s statements, but he has yet to respond.

Agus continued, mentioning that some time after the incident, the Corruption Eradication Commission’s statute was amended. During the amendment period, the anti-corruption agency was attacked by social media trolls accusing it of conduct reminiscent of the Taliban and radicals. This severely diminished public support for the Corruption Eradication Commission. After the amendment, the Commission gained the SP3 mechanism (to halt investigations already commenced).

Mr. Agus reflected on this and suspected that the revision of the Commission’s statute was not unrelated to the president’s desire to control the institution. “After the revision of the Commission’s statute, it set me to reflecting. Oh, apparently (the president) wanted the Commission to be able to be ordered around,” Mr. Agus explained.

The e-KTP project was a major large-scale corruption scandal. Based on the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency’s calculations, the state incurred a loss of Rp 2.3 trillion ($US153 million).

House Speaker Setya Novanto was ultimately sentenced to 15 years in prison for the e-KTP corruption case.

Palace Response

Presidential Special Staff Coordinator, Mr. Ari Dwipayana, responded to Agus’s statements. Ari did not directly confirm whether President Widodo indeed instructed Mr. Agus to halt the e-KTP case involving Speaker Setya Novanto in 2017.

He simply urged the public to take note of the legal proceedings at the time against Speaker Setya Novanto. “Let’s look at what actually happened. The fact is, the legal process against Speaker Setya Novanto took place in 2017, and there was a legally binding court decision,” Mr. Ari said to Kompas.com on Friday (1/12/2023).

Regarding the revision of the Commission’s statute referred to by Mr. Agus Rahardjo, Mr. Ari stressed that the initiative had come from the House of Representatives.

“One needs to be clear that that revision of the Commission’s statute in 2019 was initiated by the House of Representatives, not by the government, and it occurred two years after the naming of Speaker Setya Novanto as a [corruption] suspect,” he emphasized.

This post is based on https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/12/01/09584691/agus-rahardjo-mengaku-diperintah-jokowi-setop-kasus-setya-novanto-istana.

In related news:

For news on the Government’s response see:

Footnotes:

  1. Electronic Identity Card scandal – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_identity_card#e-KTP_corruption_scandal; https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/the-e-ktp-scandal-have-we-learned-anything-about-corruption/ ↩︎
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_People%27s_Representative_Council,_1999%E2%80%932004; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setya_Novanto ↩︎
  3. 2017 Corruption Eradication Commission – Government/House conflict – A Kompas Daily editorial two weeks earlier by senior journalist Budiman Tanuredjo outlined other aspects to the e-KTP corruption case, House efforts to discredit the Corruption Eradication Commission, and critique of the Government’s tardy defense of the Commission. See Will Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission Be Paralyzed During the Term of President Jokowi? Budiman Tanuredjo, Kompas Daily, 4 July 2017. ↩︎
  4. https://youtu.be/Jh671I01r6g ↩︎
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratikno ↩︎
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_the_State_Secretariat; https://www.setneg.go.id/ ↩︎

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2 responses to “Elections: President Widodo Ordered Halt to eKTP Graft Investigation, Former Anti-Graft Head, Kompas”

  1. Dedi Dwitagama Avatar
    Dedi Dwitagama

    wow …. impeachment?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Editor Avatar
      Editor

      You’re a mind reader…https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1806461/petisi-100-desak-dpr-dan-mpr-segera-makzulkan-jokowi

      Like

      Reply

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