Budi Gunawan: soon-to-be National Police Chief?
It looks like Indonesia just took a major step backwards in the fight against corruption. South Jakarta District Court Judge Sarpin Rizaldi ruled that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had no lawful base to name National Police Chief candidate Budi Gunawan a corruption suspect in a pre-trial hearing this morning.
“The naming of the plaintiff (Budi Gunawan) as a corruption suspect by the defendant (KPK) is unlawful,” Judge Sarpin Rizaldi ruled today, as quoted by Kompas.
The sole judge ruled that the KPK did not have the lawful right to investigate Budi Gunawan’s “fat bank account” case, as it is not qualified under Law number 30 in 2002 regarding KPK.
Judge Sarpin said Budi Gunawan was not acting in the capacity of a law enforcer or a government official in relation to the case brought forward by the KPK. As such, Budi Gunawan’s riches did not come at any loss to the nation.
Previously, the KPK named Budi Gunawan a corruption suspect for allegedly collecting up to Rp 95 billion in bribes and gratuities during his time as the head of the Career Development Bureau at the National Police from 2003 to 2006. The KPK would have charged Budi with life in prison for his alleged crimes.
So what does this mean for Budi Gunawan’s fate?
Budi’s lawyer, OC Kaligis, argued that President Joko Widodo must appoint his client as the National Police Chief regardless of the pre-trial outcome.
“If the pre-trial is approved, then he (Budi Gunawan) must be appointed, dong. If rejected, then he still must be appointed. He must be appointed because that is constitutional,” OC said yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.
Conversely, the pre-trial decision can be overturned in higher courts as former Supreme Court Judge Harifin Tumpa said a pre-trial should not be able to erase someone’s status as a crime suspect.
“In practice, if the Supreme Court believes the decision is unlawful, it can overturn the decision,” Harifin Tumpa said yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.
Harifin explained that the law states that in a pre-trial, plaintiffs can contest against arrest, custody, investigation, and prosecution. The law did not state that the naming of a suspect could be challenged in a pre-trial, meaning the Budi Gunawan’s pre-trial decision would most likely be overturned should it be appealed to the Supreme Court.
We hope that will be the case. If not, this could set a precedent for future corruption suspects, allowing them to clear their names in pre-trials before the KPK has a chance to investigate them.
