Lawyers for Three TTU Legislators Protest Ethics Council's Suspension Ruling
Three members of the Timor Tengah Utara (TTU) Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) have been handed a temporary suspension by the council’s Ethics Board (BK) over an alleged case of intimidation against Doctor Eliza Princila Utami Pakaenoni, known as Icha. The legal representative for the three legislators, Egiardus Bana, has filed an objection to the ruling.
Egiardus Bana, commonly known as Egi, submitted the letter of objection to the DPRD TTU leadership on Monday, 10 August. The three suspended council members are Veronika Lake of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Therensius Lazakar of Golkar, and Nobertus Tubani of the National Awakening Party (PKB).
The temporary suspension was imposed by the DPRD TTU Ethics Board on 27 July and formalised during a DPRD TTU plenary session on 29 July 2026. Egi argues that the temporary suspension is legally flawed because his three clients still hold the status of witnesses.
“A temporary suspension can only be enacted if the status of the three clients has become that of a defendant. However, to date, their legal status remains merely as witnesses and the legal process is still in the investigation phase,” Egi stated via telephone on Tuesday, 11 August 2026.
Egi claimed the DPRD TTU Ethics Board’s ruling was not substantive and was detrimental to his clients. The alleged intimidation case against Doctor Icha is currently still being handled by the NTT Regional Police.
“The DPRD TTU Ethics Board is granted the authority to conduct clarification, investigation, and verification regarding the three DPRD members. The DPRD TTU Ethics Board should have clarified their legal status,” he explained.
Egi assessed that the DPRD TTU Ethics Board made its decision hastily. He also took issue with the plenary process on 29 July, arguing it was not conducted in a consultative forum.
“If it is to be decided in a plenary session, it must first be quorate. After achieving a quorum, a deliberation should then be held. What happened yesterday was that there was no discussion regarding the forum, then there was no deliberation, and it was subsequently established as a decision of the DPRD institution,” Egi detailed.
“So this objection concerns two matters: procedure and substance. The substance concerns the legal status, and the procedure concerns the process within the DPRD Ethics Board and the plenary process on 29 July,” he concluded.
DPRD TTU Chairman Kristoforus Efi confirmed the receipt of the objection from the legal counsel of the three DPRD TTU members. He stated that the objection would be responded to by the Ethics Board.
“The Ethics Board will respond to their letter later. There is no time limit, because matters regarding objections to the Ethics Board’s ruling are not regulated in the Code of Ethics Regulation and the Procedural Rules of the Ethics Board. The Ethics Board’s ruling is final and binding,” Kristoforus stated via WhatsApp message.
“We respect and appreciate the legal rights of the three DPRD TTU members who have been temporarily suspended based on the DPRD Ethics Board’s decision,” he added.