Jakarta. Indonesia’s Justice Ministry has fired a second prison guard in the space of a week for alleged drug dealing, and this time stripped him of all his benefits.

Imron, 53, was symbolically stripped of his uniform at a ceremony on Monday by Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly, following his arrest in April for allegedly dealing drugs for death-row inmate and notorious drug trafficker Freddy Budiman at Jakarta’s Cipinang Penitentiary.

Yasonna called the ceremony, in which Imron was given a dishonorable discharge, “the bitterest moment” of his time as minister, but said it was necessary in the fight against drugs.

“We will take action against any official, be they a guard, the warden or a top officer,” he said. “Let this serve as a warning to the others.”

Imron was arrested during a police raid on April 10 for allegedly dealing crystal methamphetamine and the relatively new synthesized drug CC4 inside the prison as part of Freddy’s syndicate. The drug kingpin himself was later transferred to the prison island of Nusakambangan, off the southern coast of Central Java, where he is reportedly still running a trafficking ring.

Following Monday’s dismissal ceremony, Imron was sent back into the custody of the police.

His dismissal comes exactly a week after the discharge of another prison guard, Dedy Romadi from Bandung’s Banceuy Penitentiary, also for drug offenses.

Dedy was arrested by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) at a Central Jakarta mall on May 22 while allegedly carrying out a drug transaction. He eventually led officers to a stash of 16.3 kilograms of crystal meth and 778 ecstasy pills.

In stark contrast to Imron, though, Dedy was given an “honorable” discharge, which means he will continue to receive the benefits to which a civil servant is entitled, including a pension and lifetime health insurance – even if he goes to jail for drug smuggling.

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Jakarta. Suspended Indonesian antigraft deputy Bambang Widjojanto has withdrawn his pretrial challenge against the police’s decision to charge him with perjury, as pressure mounts for investigators to drop the case entirely.

Bambang’s lawyer, Dadang Trisasongko, said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the move was temporary and meant to give the police’s detectives’ unit time to issue a letter dropping all charges against his client.

“We are giving the police time to issue the SP3 letter based on the recommendation of the Indonesian Advocates Association,” Dadang said, adding that they would wait until Monday for the letter.

“If we don’t receive a response by then, we will refile the pretrial motion.”

Police have charged Bambang, a deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), with compelling witnesses to perjure themselves in an election dispute hearing in 2010, when he served as a lawyer for one of the parties in the case.

The charge is widely seen as trumped up, filed as it was just days after the KPK named Budi Gunawan, a police general nominated for National Police chief, a corruption suspect.

The ensuing raft of trumped-up charges based on cases as old as a decade that the police have since brought against other KPK officials has led to a severe curtailing of the antigraft commission’s powers, including the suspensions of Bambang and of Abraham Samad, the KPK chairman.

Budi, meanwhile, was dropped from the police chief nomination by President Joko Widodo, only to re-emerge last month as the new deputy chief of the police force — widely considered the most corrupt government institution in Indonesia.

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Suspended KPK Deputy Chair Bambang Widjojanto has filed a pretrial motion against two top leaders from the National Police. (Antara Foto/Reno Esnir)

Jakarta. Bambang Widjojanto, the suspended deputy of the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, submitted a pretrial motion against two top police officials last week, challenging their decision to name him suspect in a years-old perjury case.

National Police Chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti and chief of the National Police’s detectives’ unit, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, have been singled out in the motion.

Bambang’s lawyer Abdul Fickar Hajar said on Sunday the motion would challenge his client’s arrest and was spurred on in part by attempts from police to “target” KPK officials.

“We think that there have been many attempts to target [the] KPK, especially Bambang,” Fickar said. “That’s why we decided to submit the motion.

“Bambang also wants to challenge his arrest and the police raid.”

Bambang was arrested on January 23, while returning from dropping his children to school. He was suspended from his position at the KPK by President Joko Widodo the following month.

Bambang has been accused of persuading witnesses to give false testimony when he served as a defense lawyer in a local election dispute case in 2010 — something he denies.

He is the second KPK official to file a pretrial motion against the National Police in the past week, following senior investigator Novel Baswedan’s decision to challenge his arrest on May 4.

Fickar said the decision to file the motion last Thursday was made after the Constitutional Court allowed the use of pretrial hearings to test legal allegations against suspects.

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Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission extended its detention of former Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali  on Wednesday for his alleged role in the country’s Hajj fund graft scandal.

“We have extended the detention period for the next 40 days,” KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said on Wednesday.

Priharsa said Suryadharma had refused to sign confirmation documents on Tuesday. Suryadharma was named a suspect for allegedly abusing his power as a minister to bring associates on the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia between 2012 and 2013.

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Jakarta. Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, is targeting former Minister of Religious Affairs, Suryadharma Ali, in another graft case after previously naming him a suspect for allegedly misusing hajj pilgrimage funds.

“The KPK has issued a sprindik [a letter to officially start an investigation] with Suryadharma Ali in a similar case [to the hajj graft] but from a different year. This time it happened between 2010-2011,” KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said on Wednesday.

Priharsa said the KPK decided to pursue the case based on developments from the previous investigation against the former minister. It was not clear on Wednesday precisely what the new investigation was to be focused on.

The KPK named the former chairman of the the United Development Party (PPP) a suspect last year for allegedly allegedly misusing state funds to bankroll a hajj trip for associates in 2013.

Suryadharma has filed a pretrial motion against the KPK to challenge his status as a suspect. That motion was rejected by a South Jakarta district court on Wednesday.

KPK commissioner Johan Budi said on Wednesday that the KPK would summon Suryadharma for questioning on April 10.

Johan would not be drawn on whether the KPK planned to detain Suryadharma on Friday. The KPK has summoned the former minister for questioning on two previous occasions.

The post KPK Eyes Suryadharma Ali in Another Graft Case appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Jakarta. Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, is targeting former Minister of Religious Affairs, Suryadharma Ali, in another graft case after previously naming him a suspect for allegedly misusing hajj pilgrimage funds.

“The KPK has issued a sprindik [a letter to officially start an investigation] with Suryadharma Ali in a similar case [to the hajj graft] but from a different year. This time it happened between 2010-2011,” KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said on Wednesday.

Priharsa said the KPK decided to pursue the case based on developments from the previous investigation against the former minister. It was not clear on Wednesday precisely what the new investigation was to be focused on.

The KPK named the former chairman of the the United Development Party (PPP) a suspect last year for allegedly allegedly misusing state funds to bankroll a hajj trip for associates in 2013.

Suryadharma has filed a pretrial motion against the KPK to challenge his status as a suspect. That motion was rejected by a South Jakarta district court on Wednesday.

KPK commissioner Johan Budi said on Wednesday that the KPK would summon Suryadharma for questioning on April 10.

Johan would not be drawn on whether the KPK planned to detain Suryadharma on Friday. The KPK has summoned the former minister for questioning on two previous occasions.

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