Broker Zarof Ricar Many Answers That He Forgets At Court Sessions, Judge: Too Many Cases To Handle, Right?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court was repeatedly frustrated by the testimony of former Supreme Court official, Zarof Ricar, during the continued hearing of the bribery case concerning the acquittal of Ronald Tannur, with the defendant being the former Head of the Surabaya District Court, Rudi Suparmono.

Zarof mostly responded with "I don't know" or "I forgot." His statements in court also differed from those in the investigator's examination report. Out of frustration, the judge reminded Zarof to speak truthfully in the trial as he had been sworn in as a witness.

The continuation of the trial regarding the bribery case resulting in the acquittal of Ronald Tannur was held at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (26/5/2025). The session was presided over by Chief Judge Iwan Irawan, with panel members Sri Hartati and Andi Saputra.

Zarof is also a defendant in the bribery case along with other defendants, namely Lisa Rachmat, lawyer Ronald Tannur, and Ronald Tannur's mother, Meirizka Widjaja. Currently, the trial for the three defendants is still ongoing at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

The three judges who acquitted Ronald Tannur have now been tried and sentenced to prison. They are Erintuah Damanik and Mangapul, who were sentenced to 7 years in prison, and Heru Hanindyo, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Initially, the public prosecutor investigated Zarof's role in introducing Lisa to Rudi Suparmono around March 2024. According to Zarof, Lisa contacted him first and inquired whether he knew the Deputy Chair of the Surabaya District Court. However, Zarof stated that he did not know him.

He only knows the figure of the Chairman of the Surabaya District Court, Rudi Suparmono. According to Zarof's statement, he has indeed known Rudi for a long time since they both worked at the Supreme Court. Zarof mentioned that Rudi once served as an assistant to one of the Supreme Court justices.

"He then asked if I knew the deputy chair of the Surabaya District Court. I said I did not know him. However, I mentioned that I had previously been with the chair at the Supreme Court," said Zarof.

After communicating with Lisa, Zarof contacted Rudi via the Whatsapp application. He mentioned that there was a lawyer named Lisa who wanted to get to know Rudi. At that moment, Rudi immediately requested Lisa's phone number.

"Yes, I sent him a WhatsApp message, and he replied, 'Who is that?' I responded that her name is Lisa, and then he asked for her phone number so that he could check on her first," said Zarof.

According to Zarof, he did not inquire about Lisa's intention in requesting to be introduced to Rudi. He also admitted that he was unaware of Lisa's purpose, whether it was related to the handling of the acquittal case of Ronald Tannur.

Hearing Zarof's answer, Chief Justice Iwan Irawan grilled Zarof and asked him to be honest in court.

This is because, in one of the points of the minutes of examination (BAP) read by the public prosecutor, Zarof stated that he was aware of Lisa's intention, which was to manage Ronald Tannur's case in order to secure an acquittal. Still within the BAP, Lisa's objective had been communicated several times, both through phone calls and direct communication with Zarof. However, Zarof admitted that he did not know the amount of money prepared by Lisa to achieve the acquittal for Ronald Tannur.

Zarof stated that he never answered that matter in the BAP. During the investigator's examination, he admitted to being under pressure and unable to concentrate as he was interrogated from morning until early morning.

"I only said and it can be asked by Mr. Rudi that I wanted to introduce him to Mr. Rudi via WhatsApp. In WhatsApp, I said, 'Here Mr. Rudi, I am giving the phone number of someone who wants to get acquainted with you.' After that, I never communicated with Mr. Rudi again," said Zarof.

"So you were pressured, huh?" asked the judge.

“I feel pressured,” Zarof replied.

“What kind of pressure?” the judge asked again.

“I’m tired, sir,” said Zarof.

Although feeling pressured, Zarof stated that he was never threatened by the investigator. "But clearly, the statement that the public prosecutor conveyed earlier, I did not say anything like that," Zarof refuted.

Upon hearing the testimony of witness Zarof, Judge Iwan Irawan requested the public prosecutor to present an investigator as a verbal witness to compare with Zarof's confession.

In addition to Iwan Irawan, Sri Hartati also reminded Zarof to be honest during the trial. This was because Zarof initially claimed to know Lisa as a lawyer. According to Sri, what was the purpose of Zarof fulfilling Lisa's request to be introduced to Rudi if it was not to handle the case.

"If you know he is a lawyer, you should know why he asked to be introduced, right? Why did you introduce him to the defendant?" Judge Sri Hartati asked.

"Because there are many people who ask for help to change their names in court, and when I ask for their identification, I don't inquire about the nature of the case," said Zarof.

"Do you not know what the purpose is, or do you already know that this is indeed about handling the case? Because I see that you have had a lot of dealings with Lisa," the judge asked again.

Zarof remained silent and did not respond. This was also the case when the judge requested Zarof to be honest during the trial. "Just be honest in this trial, Sir, what is the purpose of introducing Lisa to the chairman of the District Court?" the judge asked.

"Here we are open, sir, no need to conclude on our own. Just be honest, sir," said the judge.

"Yes, maybe he wants to take care of the case but doesn't know what case," said Zarof. 

Zarof admitted that he only became aware of the case being handled by Lisa Rahmat, which involves Ronald Tannur, when Lisa asked for his assistance in managing the cassation case at the Supreme Court. This request came after Ronald Tannur was acquitted by the panel of judges at the Surabaya District Court around July 2024. Regarding his assistance in managing the cassation case, Zarof stated that he received a reward of Rp 5 billion from Lisa.

In response to Zarof's answers, which frequently indicated that he did not know or had forgotten, Iwan Irawan took the opportunity to make a remark. "You speak when asked, but there are things you forget, and things you do not know. Are you too preoccupied with other matters that you have forgotten?" said the judge before closing the session.

Meanwhile, regarding Zarof's statement in the hearing, Rudi Suparmono stated that there were no objections. The witness examination hearing will continue on June 13, 2025. According to the plan, the public prosecutor will present three witnesses in the next trial.