Dian Kuswandini and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A higher court has ruled in favor of a decision by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to halt a probe into the loan scandal involving tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.
The Jakarta High Court accepted an appeal submitted by the AGO to overturn the South Jakarta District Court's verdict favoring the plaintiff, the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI), which originally demanded the probe.
The higher court argued that the MAKI, an NGO, had "no legal standing" to file a lawsuit against the AGO to reopen the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) case against Sjamsul.
"The court ruling has stated that MAKI is not among the legal subjects that can be engaged in a lawsuit. The district court should have taken this into account in its verdict," Jakarta High Court spokesman Madya Suharja said Tuesday.
The High Court's verdict was handed down Monday, he added.
Back in April, the AGO's decision to halt the BLBI case through a Letter of Order to Stop the Investigation (SP3) was ruled a violation of the 1999 Anti-Corruption Law by the South Jakarta District Court. According to the 1999 law, the return of state assets does not nullify a criminal act.
In response to the verdict, the AGO appealed to the Jakarta High Court in order to halt the case. The high court ruled in the AGO's favor because NGOs are not legally permitted to pursue corruption cases, spokesman Madya said.
"According to the 2001 Corruption Law, civil society has no legal standing to sue, but only to report (on corruption cases)."
Such authority was only granted for laws involving consumer protection, forestry and the environment, Madya added.
However, the higher court ruling did not mention whether the AGO's letter of order to halt the BLBI probe was, in itself, lawful, he said.
"The judges didn't go that far because their finding on MAKI's unlawful position was enough for them not to investigate (the appeal case) further."
In response to the latest court verdict, MAKI chairman Buyamin Saiman said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.
"It is a question of our legal standing, not whether the letter of order was lawful or not. Our motion (on the letter of order) had been declared lawful by the (South Jakarta) District Court," he said, adding he obtained new evidence on the case.
Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendi praised the high court verdict.
"It means the Jakarta High Court shares the same view as the AGO in this case," he told The Jakarta Post.
Reopening the Sjamsul case would conflict with several regulations, such as the 2000 Law on National Development and the 2003 presidential decree on BLBI debtors, Marwan said.
"A cooperative debtor deserves a letter of settlement and should not be charged with violating the law. (The decree on debtors) also stipulates that BLBI cases should be settled out of court."
Meanwhile, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said Tuesday it would press ahead with its plan to take over the BLBI probe from the AGO, despite the high court's verdict.
"The decision doesn't affect our plan to take over the BLBI case," KPK chairman Antasari Azhar said at a public discussion in Jakarta for the release of the corruption perception index (CPI) survey conducted by Transparency International Indonesia.
"After Idul Fitri, we will discuss the takeover plan with the AGO. If they don't want (to reopen) it, we will take it over," Antasari added.