Before Ministry of Public Works is Raided by Attorney General's Office, Minister Dody Calls President
Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo stated that he had first sought permission from President Prabowo Subianto before the search process was conducted in his ministry by officials from the Jakarta High Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati), on Thursday (9/4).
During a press conference in Jakarta on Friday, Minister Dody explained that the step of seeking permission was taken to allow investigators to access all rooms in the Ministry of PU, including the minister’s office, to avoid any impression of selective enforcement in the legal process.
“I reported to the President. And I said to the President, ‘Sir, I request permission to give full leeway to all investigators to enter any room, so that there is no impression of selective justice,’” said Minister Dody.
He revealed that the permission was sought because investigators had been cautious about entering the minister’s room, considering the minister’s position as the President’s aide, thus requiring special approval for full access.
“But perhaps because they wanted to enter the minister’s domain, and the minister is one of the President’s aides, the investigators might have been a bit worried, that’s why I specifically sought permission from the President,” he stated.
He noted that President Prabowo gave full approval to the request, even though he was not in Jakarta at the time, and supported openness in the law enforcement process in the ministry.
“And the process took a bit longer because the President happened to not be in Jakarta yesterday, but he supported it and immediately gave approval,” he explained.
Minister Dody emphasised that he did not want to interfere in the ongoing legal process and chose to leave it entirely to the law enforcement apparatus to conduct the investigation professionally and independently.
“In my personal opinion, since this has entered the realm of law enforcement, we should just leave it to them,” said Minister Dody.
Regarding documents, Minister Dody revealed that more were secured from the Directorate General of Human Settlements building. Nevertheless, Kejati officials also searched the Directorate General of Water Resources, including the office of Deputy Minister (Wamen) of PU Diana Kusumastuti.
He admitted that he did not want to seek further information regarding the process to avoid being seen as interfering in the ongoing law enforcement realm. His side provided full permission to investigators to conduct searches in all rooms as a form of support for a transparent law enforcement process.
The Minister of PU assessed that the entire ministry apparatus was essentially ready to be examined and did not object if searches were conducted as part of the case deepening process.
He reaffirmed that his ministry would remain cooperative by providing additional documents and data needed by investigators to expedite the investigation process.