SUMMARY:

On the morning of Monday, Feb. 16, judge Sarpin Rizaldi of the South Jakarta District Court issued a ruling on the pre-trial motion filed to dismiss the bribery charges against three-star police general and National Police chief-nominee Budi Gunawan.

Sarpin ruled that the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) naming of Budi Gunawan was invalid, and found in favor of the plaintiff (Budi Gunawan) in the entirety of his motion. Budi’s case, according to the judge, did not meet the requirements as stipulated in the 2002 Anti-Corruption Law, as Budi was not considered to be a law enforcement officer but rather an administrator when the alleged offenses occurred, and was therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the KPK. The judge also considered the case did not affect broader society or cause any losses to the state.

The verdict included five additional points:

1. Investigation warrant No. 03/01/01/2015, issued on Jan. 12, naming Budi Gunawan as a suspect related to criminal acts under the Anti-Corruption Law, is invalid and has no legal basis.

2. The KPK’s investigation related to alleged criminal acts, as stipulated under the Anti-Corruption Law, is invalid and has no legal basis. Therefore, the investigation has no legal binding force.

3. The KPK’s procedure to name Budi Gunawan as a suspect is invalid.

4. All further stipulations related to the suspect are invalid.

5. No court fees will be billed to the state.

Active duty police officers were seen in boisterous celebrations outside the courthouse following the decision, a situation which Detective Division (BARESKRIM) Chief Budi Waseso described as natural, both on the part of individual police officers, and of the institution in general. Budi Gunawan’s supporters joined in the celebrations and took to the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle to call for his inauguration, while demonstrations protesting the court’s decision have sprung up in 26 cities across the archipelago.

Following the verdict, the head of the KPK’s legal division, Catharina M. Girsang, has declined to comment on whether the anti-graft agency would seek a Supreme Court review of the decision.

IMPLICATIONS:

As of this writing, Budi Gunawan is no longer listed as an official suspect; however, the KPK is expected to continue to pursue its investigation into the three-star police general, and to appeal today's court decision at a higher court.

The legal community has largely been shocked by the South Jakarta District Court’s ruling. Former Supreme Court judge Djoko Sarwoko said he found the decision highly irregular, and a coalition of anti-corruption NGOs have announced plans to file for a review of the case with the Judicial Commission on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

The decision regarding Budi’s pre-trial motion may have broad implications for future KPK operations and its ongoing investigations into corruption cases. The court’s ruling creates a precedent that could be used by other corruption suspects to challenge their legal status via pre-trial motions for dismissal. However, the implications of today’s decision have broader implications still for law enforcement in general, as the precedent opens the door for similar motions from all criminal suspects, not just those charged with corruption, to challenge their cases and potentially stop investigations midstream. KPK counsel Catharina M. Girsang said, “What is certain is that after this, everyone who becomes a suspect, whether in case handled by the police, the Attorney General’s Office, or by the KPK, will use the pre-trial process,” as quoted by Kompas.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo still has the sole prerogative to decide whether to inaugurate Budi Gunawan, or to search for another nominee for National Police chief. Political parties remain split on the correct path forward, although a number of politicians’ statements to media last week indicated that the odds did not look good for Budi’s promotion. Syafii Maarif of the independent “Team of Nine”, established to advise the President on the stand-off between the KPK and the National Police, told Kompas on Monday, Feb. 16, that he was still convinced Jokowi “had the guts” to cancel Budi’s inauguration, adding, “The criminalization of the KPK has been clear, yet it is allowed to continue.”

It remains unclear how the outcome of the pre-trial process will affect the National Police’s investigations into complaints filed against current and former KPK commissioners, and other public supporters of the anti-graft institution. Celebrations of uniformed officers, and top-brass support for this behavior, indicate that the outcome of the pre-trial motion hearings served as a significant boost to the esprit de corps among the National Police.