Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office will continue its investigation into the alleged extortion attempt on mining giant Freeport Indonesia involving lawmaker Setya Novanto, despite the lawmaker's resignation as House of Representatives speaker, a top prosecutor said on Thursday.
Setya resigned on Wednesday evening just moments before the House Ethics Council was expected to issue a guilty verdict against him.
The council were at the end of an investigation into accusations that Setya, along with his alleged private-sector associate, oilman Muhammad Riza Chalid, had broken the House's ethics code by secretly organizing several private meetings between May and June with Freeport Indonesia chief executive Maroef Sjamsoeddin.
During the meeting on June 8, Setya and Riza allegedly promised to expedite the negotiation process for Freeport Indonesia's contract extension from 2019 – in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the Papua-based gold and copper miner.
Having formally received Setya's resignation letter, the Ethics Council decided not to read out its verdict.
Nevertheless, Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo looks at the tribunal and the AGO's case as "two different things," said Fadil Zumhana, director of the AGO's special crimes investigation unit.
"[The council's] investigation was based on the House's code of ethics; ours is a criminal probe," he added. "For us, this is about upholding the law, so of course we will continue investigating [the scandal]."
The AGO has already summoned a number of witnesses for questioning, including Freeport executive Maroef, Energy Minister Sudirman Said and several of Setya's staffers. Fadil said the agency may soon question the former speaker.
Political expert Muhammad Budiyatna of the University of Indonesia supported the AGO's decision to push forward with its criminal investigation against Setya, calling it an important endeavor as the lawmaker's testimony could help unravel similar cases inside the House.
"I hope [Setya] is willing to cooperate [with law enforcers] to uncover other cases involving other public officials. Surely he has experience and knowledge of such wrongdoings," Budiyatna said on Thursday.
"We mustn't let [the criminal case against Setya] come to a stop; we must uncover the truth behind shady business practices involving those with huge political power. As we all know, a lot of businessmen enter politics. There is no way they wouldn't use their positions for their own gain," he added.
However, Hendardi, chairman of pro-democracy group the Setara Institute, expressed concern over the fact that the case is being handled by the less credible AGO and not the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The latter is widely considered the country's most trusted public institution.
The KPK, he said, must exercise its right to monitor all graft investigations across the country and push the AGO to quickly bring Setya to justice.
"[Setya's] actions [...] have marred the credibility of Indonesia's legislative body and it can't be restored simply by his resignation," Hendardi said. "Only a legal process can fully resolve this scandal."
Nico Harjanto, executive director of political think-tank Populi Center, lamented the Ethics Council's decision to close the case without issuing a verdict.
"[The council] only accepted Setya's resignation, but they never revealed the results of the tribunal. Is Setya guilty of ethical violations or not? If he is, how severely should he be punished?" he asked.
Nico called the two-week inquiry nothing but a show meant to advance the interests of both opponents and supporters of the former speaker.
Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/ago-pushes-forward-criminal-probe-setya/