Suryadharma Ali. Photo: Twitter/@HSuryadharmaAli
When former National Police Chief candidate Budi Gunawan had his corruption suspect status overturned in court after a pre-trial hearing, we feared that it would set a precedent for other corruption suspects to follow. Well, our fears were realized a lot sooner than we anticipated.
Former Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali filed for a pre-trial hearing at the South Jakarta District this morning. Suryadharma was named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in connection with graft in the organizing of Haj pilgrimages between 2012 and 2013.
“This morning at 8am, we filed for a pre-trial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court,” said Humphrey Djemat, Suryadharma’s lawyer, as quoted by Kompas today.
Humphrey believes the KPK doesn’t have enough evidence to implicate Suryadharma in the corruption case.
“It shows that naming Suryadharma Ali as a suspect was too soon and is a violation of our client’s basic human rights,” he said.We’re less than optimistic that Suryadharma’s status as a corruption suspect will stand after the pre-trial hearings. After all, Budi Gunawan won his freedom at the same South Jakarta District Court. We’ll lose all faith in Indonesian politics should Budi Gunawan’s controversial Judge Sarpin Rizaldi is chosen to preside over Suryadharma Ali’s pre-trial hearing as well.
