SP/Novianti Setuningsih, Jakarta – The national antigraft body has denied that it deliberately neglected to name a potential presidential candidate in its indictment of Akil Mochtar, the disgraced former chief justice of the Constitutional Court currently standing trial for bribery and money-laundering.
Johan Budi, a spokesman for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said in Jakarta on Friday that Akil had no reason for filing a formal note of protest at the omission of any mention of Mahfud M.D., the previous chief justice and a favorite potential candidate for either president or vice president in July's election.
"We didn't omit" Mahfud's name from the indictment, Johan said. "The indictment was against Akil, so obviously it centers on Akil."
He added it was understandable that Akil would try to resort to any available means to fight the charges against him, which if proved could land the country's former top judge behind bars for up to 20 years.
"But it will be up to the judges in the end to determine whether the KPK's indictment can be proven or whether Akil has defended himself sufficiently," Johan said of the case. "Let's all respect the due process of the law."
He emphasized that even before indicting Akil last week, KPK investigators had already questioned Mahfud as a witness into the conduct of his then-subordinate at the Constitutional Court.
Akil, who was arrested last October in a bribery sting and now stands accused of taking kickbacks to rig the outcome of 11 disputed regional elections, claims that it was Mahfud and not him who presided over the hearing of one of those cases, the Banten gubernatorial election in 2011.
In his note of protest filed with the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court, he said: "I find it very strange that I have been implicated in the Banten case and the prosecutors have failed to name the presiding justice in that dispute, one Mahfud M.D. What could this possibly mean?"
In responding to his indictment on Feb. 21, Akil said the omission of any mention of Mahfud made the case against himself "nonsense."
Akil is accused of taking Rp 7.5 billion ($639,000) in bribes from Tubagus "Wawan" Chaeri Wardana, the younger brother of Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, to ensure that she won re-election in 2011.
Both Tubagus and Ratu Atut have been charged with bribery in connection with another disputed election result, this one in Banten's Lebak district last year, for which Akil has also been charged.
Mahfud, for his part, has strenuously denied any involvement in the alleged bribery, and has lashed out at Akil for suggesting otherwise.
"He complains that I should be investigated for a bribe that he took? Of course not, because he's the one that took the money while I was hearing the case," he said on Tuesday.
"The KPK won't call me in [as a suspect] because all I did was preside over the hearing [into the election dispute]. What's clear is that Akil was corrupt and I wasn't."
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/kpk-denies-shielding-mahfud-from-akil-fallout/