Why Paulus Tannos's pretrial challenge as a suspect in the E-KTP corruption case has failed again?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.COM - The pretrial petition by Paulus Tannos alias Tjhin Thian Po challenging the designation of him as a suspect in the alleged procurement of the e-KTP project was rejected again by a panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday, 3 March 2026. This marks the second time Paulus Tannos’s pretrial application has been refused. Previously, on 2 December 2025, the judges at the same court also ruled that the petition could not be accepted. Judge Rio explained that the request could not be granted because of Supreme Court Circular Letter (SE MA) Number 1 of 2018. That circular states that suspects who have fled or hold DPO status cannot file pretrial petitions. Paulus Tannos has been on the DPO since 19 October 2021 and was arrested in Singapore in January 2025. The judge then granted the KPK’s exception as the respondent, stating that Paulus Tannos remains on the DPO in the sense that he has not yet submitted to and become effectively part of the investigative process. The judge added that praperadilan is a control mechanism within the criminal procedure system that requires compliance with the ongoing legal process. “Considering that further, the judge opined that if this were to occur then a contradictory situation would arise,” Judge Rio said. “On the one hand, the party has not submitted to or complied with the applicable criminal procedure norms in Indonesia, and on the other hand the party places trust in or relies on the criminal procedure system to justify the arguments it has put forward,” he continued. The judge emphasised that restrictions on the right to file praperadilan do not mean permanently stripping someone of their rights.