KPK Absent, Hasto's Pretrial Hearing "Volume Two" Postponed to Next Week

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK did not attend the first two hearings of Hasto Kristiyanto's pretrial motion. The KPK admitted that it was still busy preparing the files needed to answer the KPK suspect's pretrial motion. The trial was finally postponed with the agenda of summoning the parties on Monday (10/3/2025) and Friday (14/3/2025).

The first pretrial hearing regarding Hasto Kristiyanto's suspect status was held at the South Jakarta District Court, Monday (3/3/2025). This is Hasto's "second" pretrial motion because the first pretrial motion was not accepted by the judge. Now, Hasto's attorney has filed two pretrial motions regarding Hasto's suspect status in two cases.

The trial on Monday morning opened with the agenda of summoning the parties for the suspect status of alleged bribery in the management of DPR members 2019-2024. Hasto as the applicant while the KPK is the respondent. The trial was led by sole judge Afrizal Hadi.

After that, the trial was immediately continued with the pretrial of the suspect status of obstruction of investigation of the case. The trial was led by sole judge Rio Barten Pasaribu. The respondent, the KPK, did not attend the first trial and requested a postponement.

Hasto's attorney, Todung Mulya Lubis, had asked Judge Afrizal Hadi not to postpone the pretrial hearing for too long. Because, his client needs legal certainty.

"Even if the postponement is done, it doesn't need to be a week, but it could be three days. For me personally, just two days because we need fast and precise legal certainty in this case," he said.

The Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) asked the judge to postpone the pretrial hearing of suspect HK (Hasto Kristiyanto) because it was still coordinating and preparing materials.

However, sole judge Afrizal Hadi was reluctant to accept Hasto's attorney's request. The postponement of the trial for one week was considered appropriate and in accordance with the considerations, namely considering that there were two pretrial motions. For that, the respondent did need time to complete the documents.

Moreover, the judge continued, the KPK as the defendant initially requested a two-week postponement of the trial to complete the files. However, Afrizal only granted half of it, namely one week. This means that the trial will be continued on Monday (10/3/2025).

In Hasto's pretrial hearing for the status of suspect for obstruction of investigation led by Rio Barten Pasaribu, similar dynamics also occurred. Hasto's legal team, Ronny Talapessy asked the judge not to postpone the trial for long in order to provide legal certainty for his client. The KPK was also asked to comply with the judicial mechanism.

Rio considered Hasto's other pretrial time in making his decision. There needs to be a time span for each trial so that the selection of Friday (14/3/2025) is considered appropriate. The judge also emphasized that the next trial is the last summons for the KPK. If he is not present, the trial will continue without the respondent.

After the trial, Hasto's attorney, Maqdir Ismail, hoped that the postponement of the trial would not be a trick or a means for the KPK to complete the case submission files to the court. As a result, the pretrial motion will be dropped because the case has been transferred.

In fact, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that the KPK did not respect the trial and pretrial mechanism. He also accused the KPK of obstructing the judicial process if it did not attend the trial and submitted the case files to the court.

Meanwhile, KPK Spokesperson Tessa Mahardhika Sugiarto, said that her party asked the judge to postpone the pretrial hearing because they were still trying to complete a number of filing documents.

"The Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) asked the judge to postpone the pretrial hearing of suspect HK (Hasto Kristiyanto) because they are still coordinating and preparing the materials," he said.

For information, in the "first volume" pretrial hearing, sole judge Djuyamto decided not to accept Hasto's pretrial application because it was unclear which suspect the pretrial was for. Therefore, he asked for the pretrial to be submitted in two applications.

After that, Hasto's legal team has planned to file two pretrial motions to see the validity of Hasto's suspect status in two cases, namely the alleged bribery of the 2019-2024 DPR member administration and obstruction of his investigation.

In the alleged bribery case, the KPK suspects that Hasto masterminded Harun Masiku's bribery to former KPU Commissioner Wahyu Setiawan for the benefit of the interim replacement of members of the 2019-2024 DPR. Hasto, according to KPK investigators, commanded the giving of bribes through his subordinates, Saeful Bahri and Donny Tri Istiqomah. In fact, the PDI-P Secretary General also contributed Rp 400 million as bribe money.

As for the case of obstruction of investigation, Hasto, among others, allegedly asked Harun Masiku to soak his cellphone. That way, the evidence needed by investigators was lost. Until now, Harun is still a fugitive from the KPK.