TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Maqdir Ismail, the defense lawyer of Setya Novanto, said his client is unsure about becoming a justice collaborator. He said his client does not want to defame others.
“We have yet to decide whether to submit a proposal to become JC or not. We don’t want to because a JC [will have to] name names. We don’t want to defame others,” Maqdir said at the Corruption Court on Thursday, January 4.
In a preliminary hearing held yesterday, the panel of judges rejected Setya Novanto’s exception in the electronic ID cards (e-KTP) graft case. As such, the trial will resume hearing the witnesses’ testimony on Thursday, January 11.
Read: KPK Plan to Set Setya Novanto as Justice Collaborator
The lawyer said that he did not want to see Setya Novanto ‘on the receiving end of a defamation’ as experienced in previous hearings.
He added that Setya Novanto is not the main perpetrator. “He was a member of the DPR [House of Representatives] that was involved midway [through the e-KTP project]; at the end, even,” he said. The lawyer said that the main perpetrators in the graft case were officials of the Home Affairs Ministry.
Read: Court Rejects Setya Novanto's Objection Hearing Set for Jan. 11
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Febri Diansyah said that the opportunity to become a justice collaborator is open to anyone. “If a defendant is willing to become a JC, please submit a proposal to the KPK. It will definitely be considered and examined. A JC must admit their wrongdoing and cooperate to reveal the roles of many others and bear in mind that the JC [status] cannot be given to the main perpetrator,” Febri said.
Setya Novanto is charged with manipulating the procurement of the Home Affairs Ministry’s e-KTP project. The indictment says he received US$7.3 billion and a Richard Mille watch worth US$135,000 in relation to the project. The total state losses caused in the project reached Rp2.3 trillion.
ANTARA
