REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will question on Friday former Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali as a suspect in an alleged case of the misappropriation of Hajj funds.
"We have served a summons on Mr. SDA (Suryadharma Ali) to undergo questioning as a suspect on April 10. We sent the summons yesterday, but I don't know whether it has reached him or not," KPK's acting Deputy Chairman Johan Budi said at the KPK building here on Wednesday.
The South Jakarta district court on Wednesday rejected Ali's pretrial suit challenging the KPK's decision naming him in the alleged graft case.
"The court is of the view that whether or not the naming of a suspect is legitimate is not a pretrial domain, so the application has been entirely rejected," Tatik Hadiyanti, the sole judge who handled the case, stated.
She noted that the pretrial suit has been rejected based on article 1, paragraph 10 of the penal code adj. article 70, adj. article 82, paragraph 1, letter a, which states that the naming of a suspect is not a pretrial domain.
Ali has twice dishonored the KPK summons for questioning.
The KPK served the first summons on him on February 10. He failed to respond to that summons because he was ill and undergoing treatment at MNC hospital in Jakarta.
On February 24, the KPK served another summons on Ali, but he refused to appear before the anti-graft body, arguing he was in the process of filing a pretrial suit at the South Jakarta district court against the KPK's decision naming him as a suspect in the alleged graft case.
Earlier, on February 4, the KPK had served a summons on Ali, but he did not respond to it because it mistakenly mentioned him as witness in the case.
"All suspects receive equal treatment, meaning if they dishonor the first summons, they will receive a second one. If the second summons also goes unheeded, the KPK will take a forced measure," he said.
Budi did not disclose whether the KPK will take a forced measure against Ali on Friday.
The KPK has named Ali as a suspect for misappropriating Hajj funds.
On February 23, the former minister filed a pretrial suit at the court challenging the KPK's decision naming him suspect in the alleged graft case linked to the management of Hajj funds in 2012-13.
He filed another pretrial suit against the KPK on March 9.
Humphrey R. Djemat, one of Ali's lawyers, argued during a recent session on the pretrial suit that his client filed the suit as there was insufficient preliminary evidence to suggest his role as a suspect.
Ali's team of lawyers is of the view that the anti-graft agency did not meet all required conditions while handling his case and it did not find a state loss of Rp1 billion as alleged in the case.
The alleged graft case is about the misappropriation of budget funds for Hajj, including pilgrims' accommodation costs and transportation fees in Saudi Arabia. The mismanagement is believed to have inflicted losses worth Rp1 trillion on the nation.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika