After Hasto's Praperadilan Fails, KPK Asked to Immediately Transfer Case to Court

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Several elements of civil society hope that the bribery case involving the management of members of the 2019-2024 DPR with the suspect Hasto Kristiyanto will soon be brought to court. Thus, it can be increasingly ensured that there is no legal politicization in this case.

As previously reported, sole judge Djuyamto at the South Jakarta District Court decided not to accept Hasto's pretrial motion regarding his suspect status. The judge's decision indirectly stated that Hasto remains validly a suspect in the bribery case involving the management of DPR members for the 2019-2024 period and obstruction of the investigation in the same case.

The Coordinator of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Agus Sunaryanto, stated that the judge's decision proves that the KPK named Hasto as a suspect based on strong evidence. The judge is also convinced that Hasto was named a suspect not due to political manipulation as has often been alleged.

"Therefore, the KPK should immediately transfer Hasto's case files to the corruption court so that the public can also understand the extent of Hasto's involvement in the case," he said when contacted from Jakarta, Friday (14/2/2025).

A researcher from the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University (Pukat UGM), Zaenur Rohman, stated that the pretrial judge's decision was clear and refuted the existence of legal politicization. After the formal aspects are completed, the KPK must proceed to the material aspects.

By promptly bringing the case to court, the KPK can immediately prove whether Hasto truly contributed IDR 400 million out of a total of IDR 1.5 billion to bribe former Election Commission commissioner, Wahyu Setiawan, in order to facilitate the interim replacement of Harun Masiku as a member of the DPR for the 2019-2024 term.

In court, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was also able to prove the truth of the order from Hasto for Harun to submerge his phone in water and immediately flee. Until now, Harun Masiku remains a fugitive of the KPK.

Therefore, the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) should immediately submit Hasto's files to the Corruption Court (Tipikor) so that the public also understands the extent of the indications of Hasto's involvement in the case.

"Our hope as a society is that this case should not drag on. This case must be resolved immediately so that the drama can end soon. Then the eradication of corruption can move on to another chapter," he added.

In addition to bringing Hasto's case to court, it is also important for the KPK to continue hunting down Harun Masiku. In addition to having to be held accountable for his actions, his statement could bring the bribery case that was uncovered in 2020 to a close.

Zaenur also hopes that investigators can explain the involvement of former KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri in the bribery case. Moreover, it was previously revealed that Firli had helped complicate the sting operation (OTT) process and obstructed the process of determining Hasto as a suspect.

"If (Firli) has the intention to obstruct, then he can be charged with obstruction of justice. There is also the possibility that other parties are suspected of being involved. So the public hopes that this case must be revealed completely," he explained.

However, the KPK must also be able to answer and explore Hasto's reasons for wanting to place Harun as a member of the DPR. In fact, his vote acquisition was very small. Hasto's motives will be interesting if they are successfully revealed.

Separately, the Chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) who is also part of Hasto's legal team, Ronny Talapessy, explained that the pretrial judge's decision did not mean rejecting or not granting the pretrial lawsuit. The decision was that it could not accept the pretrial petition because administratively it did not meet the requirements.

"However, according to us, this is actually not a problem because the object is the same, the suspect is the same. But we respect the judge's interpretation of the matter," said Ronny.

Moreover, Ronny continued, the judge's considerations have not referred to or touched on the object of the test, namely the suspect status of Hasto Kristiyanto. Therefore, there is the potential for his client to re-file a new pretrial motion. However, this has not been decided by the legal team.

"So, once again, we need to say that this is not over. There is no decision on the substance of our pretrial motion being rejected," Ronny said.

On the other hand, the Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Setyo Budiyanto is of the view that the pretrial judge's decision is proportional and appropriate. The judge's decision shows that the KPK investigators have worked according to the applicable rules and regulations. There is no legal corridor violated by the investigators as stated in the arguments of the KPK legal team.

Next, Setyo left it up to investigators to decide the next steps for the investigation of the case involving Hasto.