Prison Bribery Scandal; KPK Not Questioning Detainees Yet, Focuses on Case Filing

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, is still completing the case files of suspects in cases of illegal levies or extortion at the KPK detention center (rutan). The commission's spokesman, Ali Fikri, said they would eventually make an official announcement of the suspects' names and other details.

"More than 10 suspects. The investigation is ongoing. "In time, the names of the suspects, the structure of the case and the articles under suspicion will be officially announced," Ali told Tempo on Monday, March 4, 2024.

When asked if the case would be developed and followed-up with investigating KPK detainees who bribed the employees, Ali Fikri said that it would have to wait.

"We will have to see later. Right now, we are focusing on completing the case files of the 10 suspects first," he said.

The KPK has implemented the Ethics Board's decision to punish 78 employees who took bribes from inmates at the KPK detention center. They were given the ethical sanction of making a direct and public apology at the KPK Juang Building on Monday, February 26.

The 78 KPK employees were found to have violated ethics by accepting illegal bribes from detainees. The board previously investigated 90 employees, while 12 others were referred to the KPK secretary-general for ethics violations committed before the board was formed.

Ali Fikri said the mandatory apology was only a form of moral punishment for ethical violations. "Disciplinary and criminal actions against the bribe takers are currently being processed."

For further investigation, KPK investigators have searched three detention centers where extortion took place: the detention center at the Red and White KPK building, the detention center at Pomdam Jaya Guntur, and the detention center at the ACLC building.

Ali Fikri said investigators found and confiscated evidence in the form of recorded documents related to the receipt of a sum of money.

"Confiscation and analysis will be carried out immediately to be included in the case filing of the parties named as suspects," he said in an official statement on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.

BAGUS PRIBADI

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