Johny fights back, offers himself as justice collaborator
As the plot thickens on the alleged corruption in the procurement of base transceiver stations (BTS) for the government’s 4G infrastructure project, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Thursday named PT Basis Utama Prima (BUP) director Muhammad Yusrizki Muliawan a suspect, the eighth in the case.
State prosecutors claim the scandal has inflicted Rp 8.03 trillion in state losses. The figure is believed to come from the chairman of the Standing Committee on Renewable Energy of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).1
Yusrizki had several times faced questioning since March of this year as a witness, Lawyer and chairman of the Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) Sugeng Teguh Santoso, whom Yusrizki reached out to for help when his name was mentioned in the graft case, said he heard Yusrizki received commission fees amounting to tens of billions of rupiah from subcontractors involved in the procurement project. A law enforcement officer corroborated this account, stating that the AGO traced the money amounting to Rp 70 billion that went to Yusrizki from various subcontracting companies.
PT BUP was appointed to provide solar panel systems as the power supplier for transmission towers. In the company’s articles of association, Hapsoro “Happy” Sukmonohadi, the husband of House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani, is the owner of the company with 99 percent of shares. The remaining 1 percent belongs to PT Mohammad Mangkuningrat, a company linked to Kadin chairman Mohammad Arsjad Rasjid Prabu Mangkuningrat.
It was reported that Johny had named Happy when he was questioned as a witness in the BTS procurement case.2
Around the same time Yusrizki was named a suspect, Johnny expressed his willingness to become a justice collaborator to lead the AGO to all beneficiaries of the scandal.3 Johny’s lawyer Achmad Cholidin said his client would submit his formal request soon.
Cholidin claimed that his client’s role in the case was only to appoint BLU Bakti of the Communication and Information Ministry as the party authorized to use the budget. Additionally, Johny only signed endorsement letters addressed to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), who then forwarded the letters to the House’s Budget Committee (Banggar). Therefore, Cholidin believes that BAKTI Kominfo is more knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the project, from budget planning to the selection of vendors for the work, than his client.
To become a justice collaborator, Johny must meet the requirements as stated in Article 28, Paragraph (2) of Law No. 31/2014 on Witness and Victims Protection.4 The requirements include the disclosed criminal offense is a specific crime according to the LPSK’s decision; the provided testimony by the justice collaborator is of significant importance in uncovering a criminal offense; the justice collaborator is not the main perpetrator of the criminal offense; the justice collaborator is willing to return assets obtained from the committed criminal offense in a written statement; and there is a genuine threat or concern of physical or psychological pressure or threats against the justice collaborator or their family if the criminal offense is revealed.
Yusrizki had come under the spotlight since he joined the Universal Service Obligation (USO) BTS project in 2018. At the time, he introduced the power supply business to BAKTI Kominfo CEO Anang Achmad Latif. Upon Johny’s request Anang introduced Yusrizki to Johny, who wanted a national figure like Yusrizki to participate in the 4G BTS project.5 An investigator said Johny and Yusrizki discussed potential business collaborations in the 4G BTS project. After the meeting, Anang is said to have sought assistance from PT Solitech Media Sinergy commissioner Irwan Hermawan to help Yusrizki join the project.
However, Johny’s account is different from Anang’s. Two of Johny’s confidants said Anang was the one who introduced Yusrizki to Plate. Cholidin could only confirm that Johny knew of Yusrizki but had no knowledge of their relationship relating to the 4G BTS project. Cholidin said Anang did not keep his client updated about the details of budgeting and realization of the project.
On another note, Happy is tightlipped about the scandal. Arsjad also declined to explain his business with Happy. Previously, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) attorney Yanuar Wasesa said Happy was not involved in the 4G BTS project because he was registered as the owner of PT Rukun Raharja Tbk.
Regardless, the AGO has yet to rule out the possibility of questioning Happy in relation to the case. Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah emphasized that the basis of all criminal investigation processes requires tracing and requesting information or testimonies from all suspected parties or those with knowledge.6 Febrie said he is certain that Happy will be summoned for questioning to clarify his connection with the case. However, the AGO has yet to set a date for the much-anticipated questioning as it is still focusing on Yusrizki’s role in the case.
A high-ranking NasDem official said the NasDem Party legal advisory team considered the option of filing a pretrial motion to challenge the prosecutors’ decision to name Johnny a graft suspect and detain him. The plan, however, was dropped due to the slim chance of winning. "We are afraid state prosecutors would expedite the trial if we filed the pretrial motion," said the NasDem politician.
NasDem chairman Surya Paloh is concerned about the graft case involving one of his confidants. That’s why he visited Johnny in his detention to discuss the case. NasDem officials who knew about the visit said the party boss was optimistic the corruption case would not shake the foundation of the party.
In the meeting with Surya, Johnny insisted he merely performed his jobs as user of the state budget. The lucrative project planning, on the other hand, was handled by the Bakti team. Therefore, according to the source, Johny finally offered himself as a justice collaborator.
Johny took into consideration several reasons, including information about people implicated in the graft case. "In essence, Johnny will disclose the roles of everyone involved in this case," the source said.
PREV NEXT