REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Speaker of the House of Representatives Setya Novanto has asked all parties to respect and honor the court's verdict that accepted Commissioner General Budi Gunawan's pretrial suit against corruption charges.
"We need to appreciate and respect the verdict of the court as that is final," Setya Novanto said here on Wednesday.
According to Novanto, all parties should do their best and respect the verdict of the court.
He hopes President Joko Widodo will immediately take a stand on Budi Gunawan's status.
"This is the prerogative of the President. I hope the President will resolve this issue as soon as possible," he remarked.
Earlier, South Jakarta District Court Judge Sarpin Rizaldi in the final pretrial hearing here on Monday accepted Commissioner General Budi Gunawan's pretrial motion, affirming that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) naming Gunawan a graft suspect was illegitimate.
"The naming of the applicant (Budi Gunawan) by the defendant (KPK) has been illegitimate and has no legal basis," Judge Sarpin Rizaldi stated while reading out the verdict.
The judge also noted that KPK's letter number 03/01/01/2015 authorizing an investigation on Budi Gunawan was illegitimate.
He also rejected all exceptions conveyed by KPK's lawyers, who had reiterated that Gunawan's pretrial motion was premature and full of contradictions and the pretrial hearing did not have any authority over KPK naming Gunawan a suspect.
The KPK-Police conflict surfaced after the anti-graft body named Budi Gunawan, who was the sole candidate for police chief, suspect in a corruption case on January 13, 2015.
KPK accused Budi Gunawan of receiving bribes through suspicious transactions when he headed the Police Headquarters' Career Planning Bureau during 2003-2006 and held other posts in police.
Following this, President Joko Widodo postponed the inauguration of Gunawan as national police chief until the Court issued its verdict.
Gunawan later filed a pretrial suit challenging KPK's move against him.
The National Police's Crime Investigation Department Head Budi Waseso later announced that several sections in the society had reported to police about various alleged wrongdoings by four KPK commissioners, including Bambang Widjojanto.
However, the only KPK commissioner that police have so far named is Bambang Widjojanto.
Some 500 police officers were deployed at the South Jakarta District Court to secure the final pretrial hearing.
Police particularly had to secure the court from around 800 supporters of both Budi Gunawan and KPK who had gathered in front of it since early morning.
The Jakarta police also deployed water cannon and three Barracuda vehicles.