Erwin Sihombing, Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court has revoked a decision by prosecutors to pursue corruption charges against former state-owned enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan in relation to irregularities in a project to build 21 power transformers across the country between 2011 and 2013. The project is estimated to have been worth Rp 1.06 trillion ($74 million).
Judge Lendrianty Janis, who heard Dahlan's pretrial motion to quash the charges, found that the Jakarta Public Prosecutors' Office had not gathered enough preliminary evidence to declare Dahlan a suspect in the case.
The court found that no witnesses had been examined prior to the decision, thus skipping a critical part of the investigation process as mandated by Indonesia's Code of Criminal Procedures (Kuhap).
The court "grants the plaintiff's motion in its entirety," the judge said in her ruling, referring to Dahlan who filed for the motion. "Therefore, the charges against the plaintiff by the Prosecutors' Office are declared invalid and we order prosecutors to revoke the naming of the plaintiff as a suspect."
The Prosecutors' Office's spokesman Waluyo said his office "will not back down on the case and will prosecute whoever is responsible" but declined to elaborate on any possible further legal moves.
The case revolves around a project to build 21 transformers in Java, Bali and West and East Nusa Tenggara between 2011 and 2013, when Dahlan was a minister. The project was planned in 2009, when Dahlan was president director of state electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara.
Of the 21 power transformers, two were found to be malfunctioning and 13 damaged. Dahlan's lawyer Yusril Ihza Mahendra said although the project was initiated by Dahlan, his client never interfered with the tender.
Dahlan "was named a suspect before any evidence was found," arguing that the prosecutors only started examining witnesses after the charges were laid.
The South Jakarta District Court has been in the spotlight for altering the legal status of many corruption suspects since early this year, with many legal experts and activists saying that the court had overstepped its authority.
But a pretrial motion ruling is final and binding, according to the Kuhap, and many are debating whether law enforcers can still lodge an appeal to such rulings, seen as a massive blow to Indonesia's long and arduous fight against corruption.
Dahlan, the owner of Jawa Pos media group, is also being targeted by three other law enforcement bodies: the Attorney General's Office, the East Java Prosecutors' Office and the National Police over four separate graft cases. Dahlan has not been charged in relation to the other cases.