Accused of Hampering Harun Case, Yasonna: I'm Not That Stupid

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has denied allegations of hampering the arrest of Harun Masiku, a suspect in the bribery case implicating General Election Commission (KPU) former commissioner Wahyu Setiawan.

Yasonna went on to say that the confusion in information from the Directorate General of Immigration is purely due to systematic errors. “The data was not in the server,” said Yasonna when met at the Jakarta School of Theology, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday, January 27, 2020.

Yasonna claimed there was an error in the online Immigration Management Information System (SIMKIM) at the 2F Arrival Terminal of Soekarno-Hatta Airport, where Harun arrived in Indonesia on January 7, 2020. Yasonna said the Directorate General of Immigration had formed an independent team to investigate the error.

The independent investigation team will comprise the Cyber Crime Criminal Investigation Body of the National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri), the Ministry of Communication and Information, the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN), and the Indonesian Ombudsman. 

According to Yasonna, the formation of the team is aimed at ensuring that he has no involvement in revealing Harun’s whereabouts, which remains unknown. “I'm not that stupid to do that badly," Yasonna said.

Harun Masiku, a Democratic Party of Struggle’s legislative candidate, is one of the suspects in the bribery case that involved former KPU commissioner Wahyu Setiawan. Harun allegedly bribed Wahyu to become a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) through an interim replacement mechanism.

The Director General of Immigration pointed out that Harun Masiku was in Singapore when the KPK held a series of sting operations. However, Tempo found records and testimonies indicating Harun was already in Indonesia when the operations took place, which prompted the immigration office to acknowledge that Harun was already in Indonesia.

EGI ADYTAMA