Puteh's lawyer demands court drop case
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Defense lawyers of graft suspect Abdullah Puteh demanded on Wednesday that the Anticorruption Court in Central Jakarta halt proceedings against their client.
The demand was made after the Constitutional Court issued an unclear ruling earlier on Tuesday, which was interpreted by the lawyers as saying that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had no authority to prosecute cases that predated its formation.
The KPK is prosecuting Puteh, the suspended governor of Aceh, for allegedly marking up the price of a MI-2 Russian-made helicopter purchased in 2001 for the provincial administration. He could face life imprisonment and a Rp 1 billion (US$110,000) fine if convicted.
Another suspect in the case, Bram H.D. Manoppo, had challenged Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK, particularly article 68 of the law, which gives authority to the KPK to take over the investigation and prosecution of graft cases from the police and prosecutors. Bram said that the move by the KPK (set up in December 2002) to prosecute a corruption case that allegedly occurred in 2001 was an application of retroactivity, which is against the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court maintained the KPK's authority in prosecuting the graft case, but did not rule on whether the KPK had applied the principle of retroactivity in the prosecution of Bram. The court ruled that it was up to the Anticorruption Court to decide on whether the KPK had violated the prohibition on retroactivity, although it said in its considerations for the verdict, that the KPK can not apply the principle of retroactivity in prosecuting graft cases.
"We submitted a letter to the panel of judges (of the Anticorruption Court) based on the considerations contained in the Constitutional Court verdict, which says that the KPK's investigation could be considered retroactive," said Rocky Awondatu, one of Puteh's lawyer.
Rocky claimed that the Constitutional Court verdict stipulates that the KPK could not investigate cases arising before 2002, when the body was established. Therefore, Puteh's lawyers demanded that the defendant be acquitted from all charges made against him and be released from detention. (006)