Hasto Case Enters Prosecution Amid Pretrial Attempts, Attorney Protests

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The legal counsel of Hasto Kristiyanto, Ronny Talapessy, visited the Merah Putih Building of the Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon (5/3/2025). He lodged a strong protest against KPK after hearing news that the case involving his client would proceed to the next stage, prosecution. This occurred despite Hasto currently filing for a pretrial motion.

Kompas' monitoring, when visiting the KPK Building, Ronny was seen rushing in while carrying documents. When he came out, he rushed to meet reporters to provide information.

Ronny held a photocopy of the document he sent to the anti-corruption agency. His letter was addressed to the leadership of KPK and contained a strong protest from Hasto's legal counsel against KPK.

The protest originated from a short message sent by the information department of KPK to Hasto's legal counsel. The content stated that on Thursday (6/3/2025), investigators would proceed with Hasto's case to the next stage, namely prosecution.

As is known, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has been named a suspect in two cases, namely the alleged bribery in the management of members of the House of Representatives for the 2019-2024 period and obstruction of the investigation. He is currently detained at the State Detention Center of Class I Jakarta Timur.

"Due to receiving this information, we have submitted a formal letter of protest against the arbitrariness of KPK. We believe that KPK lacks commitment to the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) as well as the KPK Law, which includes respect for fair law enforcement and respect for human rights," explained Ronny.

On the other hand, Hasto's attorney has tried to respect law enforcement efforts. Hasto's attorney, for example, applied Article 65 of the Criminal Procedure Code to present mitigating witnesses or witnesses a de charge. This is part of protecting human rights, including suspects in a case.

Ronny then questioned the purpose of the KPK in immediately escalating the case to prosecution. This is because the pretrial motion regarding Hasto's suspect status is still ongoing at the South Jakarta District Court. The Constitutional Court's (MK) ruling mandates that all parties respect the ongoing pretrial process before the first hearing for the reading of charges is scheduled.

Due to receiving this information, we submitted a formal letter of strong protest against the arbitrariness of KPK. We believe that KPK lacks commitment to the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) as well as the KPK Law, which include respect for fair law enforcement and respect for human rights.

"But we see that what the KPK did today. We have seen our suspicion that the KPK wants to speed up this case to avoid pretrial," he said.

The KPK's move this time was also accused of further strengthening efforts to politicize the case. Moreover, during Hasto's first pretrial hearing, the KPK legal team was not present. Ronny suspected that there were certain interests that wanted to criminalize his client.

Meanwhile, KPK Spokesperson Tessa Mahardhika Sugiarto has not been able to confirm the upgrade of Hasto's case status to prosecution. She still needs to ask investigators.

"The explanation will be asked to the investigator first," he said in a brief statement.

The KPK did not attend the first two pretrial hearings of Hasto Kristiyanto held on Monday (3/3/2025). The KPK admitted that it was still busy preparing the material files.

The trial was finally postponed with the agenda of summoning the parties on Monday (10/3/2025) for the pretrial motion for Hasto's suspect status in the bribery case for the management of DPR members 2019-2024. The first pretrial hearing for Hasto's suspect status in the obstruction of investigation case was held on Friday (14/3/2025).

This pretrial motion is Hasto's "second" pretrial motion because the judge could not accept the first pretrial motion.

In the first pretrial ruling read out on February 13, sole judge Djuyamto at the South Jakarta District Court (PN), opined that Hasto's pretrial motion should have been filed in two pretrial motions, not in one motion. One of the reasons was that different types of cases would contain different evidence.