House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Setya Novanto, Sunday (19/11), has finally been submitted to the detention center of the KPK.
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Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
E-ID card corruption case suspect Setya Novanto is transferred on Sunday (19/11) to the detention center at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in Kuningan, Jakarta. The KPK took physical custody of Novanto after he was treated at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for injuries he sustained in a car accident on Thursday (16/11).
JAKARTA,KOMPAS – House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Setya Novanto, Sunday (19/11), has finally been submitted to the detention center of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The KPK transferred Novanto from Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) after doctors said he did not require hospitalization and could be questioned.
The KPK actually took Novanto into custody last Friday (17/11). However, his physical detention was postponed for health reasons of the suspect of the e-ID corruption case.
On Friday, to learn more about Novanto’s health condition, the KPK later moved the suspect from Medika Permata Hijau Hospital to the RSCM.
Novanto was admitted to Medika Permata Hijau Hospital on Thursday evening after the car he was riding crashed into a lamppost on Jl. Permata Berlian in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta. At the time of the incident, Novanto had been placed on the KPK’s most wanted list, because he had disappeared the previous day as he was about to be arrested by the anti-graft body.
However, based on the results of a three-day evaluation by a team of RSCM doctors since Friday, the team declared that Novanto no longer required hospitalization. "Therefore, the postponement is no longer necessary," said KPK deputy chairman Laode M Syarif during a late Sunday evening press conference at the RSCM.
RSCM president director Heriawan Soejono and Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) secretary-general Adib Khumaidi accompanied Laode at the press conference.
Transferred to KPK
During the press conference at the RSCM, a convoy of vehicles carrying Novanto left the hospital.
At about 11:40 p.m., the convoy arrived at the KPK building. Wearing the KPK’s orange detention vest, Novanto entered the KPK building in a wheelchair. No statement was made. His lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, entered the building after Novanto. He declined to comment.
Novanto has submitted a pretrial motion at the South Jakarta District Court with regard to the KPK’s naming him as a suspect for a second time.
The first pretrial hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30, presided over by sole judge Kusno, who is also the deputy justice of the South Jakarta District Court.
The KPK has received a notification letter about the pretrial hearing, and its legal bureau is preparing steps to face the legal action.
At the same time, the KPK is continuing to investigate the e-ID case. On Monday (20/11), the KPK is scheduled to question Novanto’s wife, Deisti Astriani Tagor. She will be questioned as a witness to suspect Anang Sugiana Sudihardja, the director of PT Quadra Solution. Deisti was originally scheduled to be questioned on Friday (10/11), but failed to show, saying that she was sick.
Investigation into other suspects of the e-ID case has been carried out. Besides Novanto and Anang, Golkar politician Markus Nari is another suspect still in the interrogation stage.
Kompas/Lasti Kurnia
Security guards man the entrance to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta on Saturday (18/11), where Setya Novanto was being treated on the seventh floor under tight supervision.
Golkar Party
A number of views related to Novanto\'s detention exist within the Golkar Party. Golkar’s deputy secretary-general of the Central Executive Board (DPP), Tubagus Ace Hasan Syadzily, said the DPP needed to hold a plenary session immediately to respond to the Novanto’s detention.
Golkar\'s West Java Regional Executive Board (DPD) chairman, Dedi Mulyadi, also hoped that his party would hold an immediate plenary session to decide what steps to take to save the party. The case involving Novanto has caused negative public opinion of Golkar, and this will impact Golkar\'s worsening electability.
However, Golkar Southeast Sulawesi DPD chairman Ridwan Bae hoped that if a plenary session was held, it would not directly take any decision.
He suggested the DPP to wait for Novanto’s stance. There are two possible stances for Novanto to take: insisting on remaining as the party’s general chairman because has not been found guilty in the e-ID corruption case, or ready to quit.
If Novanto chose to resist, Ridwan said, the DPP could at least wait until a ruling was handed down in Novanto’s pretrial hearing. "If, indeed, (Novanto) loses the pretrial, the DPP can formulate steps and make a decision," he said.
Waiting for Novanto\'s stance is considered important, so that no sides will be hurt if there was a change in leadership in Golkar later.
Meanwhile, the House Ethics Council (MKD) has not yet processed Novanto, even though he has been detained.
MKD deputy chairman Sarifuddin Sudding of the Hanura Party faction said the council would process Novanto if he held the status of suspect. This refers to Law No. 17/2014 on the People\'s Consultative Assembly (MPR), DPR, Regional Representatives Council (DPD), and Provincial/City Legislative Councils (DPRD), or the MD3 Law.
"The law says that the MKD will process cases when a DPR leader has suspect status. In such a situation, the DPR leader is temporarily dismissed," he said.
Sudding admitted that there was another regulation in the MD3 Law that stipulated the dismissal of a DPR leader, if they could no longer carry out their duties or be unable to continue as a DPR member. However, this stipulation can be applied only if such a condition has existed for three months.
Resignation
Meanwhile, MetroTV has received Hilman Mattauch’s resignation as a contributor to the TV station. Hilman was believed to have been driving the car Novanto was in when the car crashed on Thursday evening into a lamppost on Jl. Permata Berlian.
MetroTV chief editor Don Bosco Selamun said on Saturday that a meeting was held for Hilman.
"Actually, we invited him to a meeting to give him a dismissal letter. However, to make it more acceptable, the scheme was [changed so] that he resigned. Hilman tendered his resignation from MetroTV at the meeting.
Hilman, according to Don Bosco, had violated the station’s code of ethics. MetroTV had assigned Hilman to meet and interview Novanto, not to become his driver. "We feel he took on a job beyond his assignment. Moreover, he caused harm," he said.
