SUMMARY:

Interim Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chair Taufiqurrahman Ruki admitted “defeat” in the corruption case against National Police general Budi Gunawan as it handed over the case to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Monday, March 3. In his comments to the media, he said he did not want the case, which has become a political quagmire for the graft-fighting agency, to disrupt its 36 other on going cases. Anti-graft activists were quick to criticize the decision, pointing out that some 2,000 cases forwarded by the KPK to the AGO never went to trial, according Gadjah Mada University’s Anti-Corruption Study Center (Pukat UGM).

Interim KPK Commissioner Johan Budi said he expected the decision would help to stem the onslaught of criminal investigations launched against the agency and its leadership. Deputy National Police Chief Badrodin Haiti said the force would reconsider nine of the more than 30 cases it was investigating against KPK staff, clarifying on Tuesday, March 3, that preliminary inquiries against KPK Commissioners Adnan Pandu Praja and Zulkarnain would be delayed, not dropped, while investigations against inactive KPK Chair Abraham Samad and inactive KPK Vice Chair Bambang Widjojanto would continue. He told media that personally, he would prefer to drop the cases, but that he could face legal action for doing so without prior approval from the plaintiffs in each case – approval he pledged to seek out.

Only moments after the KPK announcement, Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo announced on Tuesday, March 3, that his office had forwarded the case file on Budi Gunawan to the National Police for further investigation to great public surprise and disappointment.

In the morning of Tuesday, March 3, hundreds of KPK staff staged a protest in response to the decision to hand over Gunawan’s case, a move activists have described as a “severe blow” to the KPK. Speaking in front of the KPK headquarters, investigators vented their frustrations that the sacrifices of Abraham Samad, Bambang Widjojanto and a number of other colleagues had been invalidated in one fell swoop. Others, including the head of the KPK employee’s union, went several steps further, claiming the staff were ready to die fighting criminals rather than bear the shame of joining corruptors in a coalition. Speaking separatedly, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi slammed the demonstration, threatening its participants with harsh sanctions for insubordination. Protestors scoffed at the threat, reminding the minister of the KPK’s independent mandate and his lack of authority to intervene. They claimed that were compelled by a sense of justice to speak out against what had transpired and to stand up for the truth. Taufiqurrahman Ruki and interim KPK Commissioner Indriyanto Seno Adj stood calmly before the group, and offered no response in their own defense. After voicing their disapproval of the KPK’s decision, the staff re-entered the building and returned to work. The People’s Coalition for Judicial Monitoring, a coalition of leading civil society organizations, presented a funeral wreath to the KPK to ceremonially mark the death of the institution’s bravery to tackle corruption.

University of Indonesia sociologist and “Team of Nine” member Imam Prasodjo captured public sentiment particularly well on Tuesday, March 3, when he stated that efforts to combat corruption in the country had reached a point of crisis, and called on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to avoid making decisions based on calculations of political impact.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

Friday, Feb. 27 – KPK Commissioners meet with Jokowi

Friday, Feb. 27 – CSO coalition calls for firm presidential action and urges KPK to press forward

Friday, Feb. 27 – Inactive KPK Vice Chair Bambang Widjojanto skips National Police questioning, threatened with detention if he skips again

Friday, Feb. 27 – Jakarta Governor files complaint with KPK over city budget manipulation

Monday, March 2 – KPK hands over Budi Gunawan’s case to AGO

Monday, March 2 – AGO hands over Budi Gunawan’s case to National Police

Tuesday, March 3 – KPK staff stage protest in front of headquarters against decision to

IMPLICATIONS:

The AGO’s decision to return Gunawan’s case to the National Police virtually guarantees the police general will face no criminal action for highly suspicious and well-documented payments he received during his tenure as the head of the police’s career development unit, as tenuous internal investigations have already cleared him of any wrongdoing. As such, the KPK’s decision to relinquish responsibility for the case constitutes a deep disappointment for many and the AGO’s move has been taken as a betrayal of Prasetyo’s statements over the past weeks that his institution was ready to fairly and thoroughly investigate cases of corruption.

Prasetyo’s ambiguity as to whether he would exercise his authority to drop the cases against Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto diminishes the immediate perception that the KPK’s decision to relinquish the case against Budi Gunawan was part of a quid-pro-quo agreement between the nation’s top law enforcement agencies, but public speculation abounds. In 2010, following an investigation into KPK commissioners Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah was dropped after failing to gather sufficient evidence. The two were returned to active duty shortly thereafter. However, given limited amount of time remaining before the conclusion of their terms in office, it is unlikely to see Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto return to active duty.

Tuesday’s protest action and vocal airing of discontent with interim chair Taufiqurrahan Ruki marks a new low in the morale among KPK staff. Never before in the institution’s history have active staff taken to the street to vent their frustrations in protest. Despite serving as the first KPK chair, Ruki is viewed by many as an “outsider” to the current stand-off with the National Police, and his objectivity – given his long career with the police – have openly been called into question. Staff are understandably upset with Ruki and the institution’s refusal to pursue a further appeal of the South Jakarta District Court’s controversial pre-trial ruling, which threatens to undermine immediate efforts to prosecute high-profile corruption. Until this legal loophole is closed and spurious cases against KPK investigators are halted, morale and broader KPK operations are likely to suffer.

On Monday, March 2, Tempo magazine reported that it had been reported to the police for violating banking secrecy laws for publishing details on the suspicious transactions found in Budi Gunawan’s accounts. The report was filed by a little-known social group “Gerakan Masyarakat Bawah Indonesia”, which had previously filed similar criminal complaints against Former Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) chief Yunus Husein. The case indicates that efforts remain in play to quash any information related to the suspicious transactions implicating Budi Gunawan in suspected acts of bribery and corruption. The original PPATK report found that more than 20 police personnel had suspiciously large bank balances, unjustified by their salaries as public employees.

Information as of 5:30 p.m. WIB, March 3, 2015