Jakarta – Constitutional Court Chief Mahfud MD testified at the National Police Headquarters on Thursday for former staff member Zainal Arifin, a suspect in a high-profile forgery case.
Mahfud asserted that he testified voluntarily to help turn the fortunes of Zainal, whom many say is a "victim" in the case that implicates a top member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic party.
"Pak Zainal asked me to testify in favor of him to clear up the problem," he told reporters. Constitutional Court justices Harjono and Maria Farida Indrati also testified.
The court had been critical of how the police handled the case, saying that the police were unprofessional in allegedly sparing the suspected masterminds. But the court seemed to have a softer stance on Thursday.
"I always told the [Constitutional Court] not to interfere [in the case], because the laws were established, so the National Police already had a standard for settling the case using the established laws," Mahfud said.
The case came to public attention after a letter from the Constitutional Court was discovered, which ordered the General Election Commission (KPU) to grant a seat in the House of Representatives to Dewi Yasin Limpo from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), while in fact the seat should have gone to Mestariyani Habie from the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra).
The letter, which was passed from former court staff member Mashuri Hashan to former KPU member Andi Nurpati, was later identified as a fake, and Zainal's signature on the letter a forgery.
The police named Mashuri and Zainal suspects, while Andi and Dewi – the alleged masterminds of the forgery – have been questioned as witnesses but have yet to be named suspects.
Zainal's legal team told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that Zainal could not be charged under Article 263 of the Criminal Code for forging documents, pointing to the fact that Zainal did not benefit from the forged letter.
"If the accusation is based on Article 263, then the people who used the letter for their personal interests are the ones who should be named suspects. In this case, [the suspects] should be the KPU commissioner or the House candidate who forged the letter," Ahmad said.
National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Sutarman told reporters that the investigation was ongoing and had yet to determine Andi's role. If Andi is named a suspect, it would be another blow to the embattled Democratic Party, which has been busy with a maelstrom of graft allegations from former party treasurer turned whistleblower Muhammad Nazaruddin. (sat)