South Jakarta Court Accepts Budi Gunawan's Pretrial Motion

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - South Jakarta District Court Judge Sarpin Rizaldi in a final pretrial hearing here, Monday, accepted Commissioner General Budi Gunawan's pretrial motion, affirming that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) naming Gunawan a graft suspect was illegitimate.

"Stating that the naming of the applicant (Budi Gunawan) by the defendant (KPK) is illegitimate and has no legal basis," Judge Sarpin Rizaldi stated while reading out the verdict.

The judge also remarked that the KPK's letter number 03/01/01/2015 authorizing an investigation over Budi Gunawan was illegitimate.

He also rejected all exceptions conveyed by the KPK lawyers, who had reiterated that Gunawan's pretrial motion was premature and full of contradictions, and the pretrial hearing did not have any authority over the KPK naming Gunawan as a suspect.

The KPK-Police conflict surfaced after the anti-graft body named Budi Gunawan, the sole candidate for police chief,  a suspect in a corruption case on January 13, 2015. The KPK investigators accused Budi Gunawan of receiving bribes through suspicious transactions when he headed the Police Headquarters' Career Planning Bureau during 2003-2006 and held other posts in police.

Following the KPK's move, President Joko Widodo said he postponed the inauguration of Gunawan as new national police chief, until the Court issued its verdict. Gunawan later filed a pretrial suit  challenging the KPK's move of naming him a graft suspect. (WDY)