The first hearing on Monday (6/7/2020) of the case review submitted by Joko Soegiarto Tjandra will be an opportunity for law enforcement agencies to arrest Joko, who has been on the run for 11 years.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·5 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – After losing their chance on 8 June 2020, law enforcement apparatuses will again have an opportunity on Monday to arrest Joko, who is a fugitive in the corruption case related to the transfer (cession) of Bank Bali’s debt collection rights. The fugitive, who was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison, is scheduled to attend the first hearing of his case review at the South Jakarta District Court.
The first hearing was originally scheduled for last Monday. However, Joko did not attend the hearing, citing illness, and the court adjourned the hearing and rescheduled it for today. Joko\'s attendance at court is mandatory according to Supreme Court Circular No. 1/2012, which stipulates that the plaintiff of a case review must be present at court. The plaintiff in this case is Joko Tjandra.
Joko, who has been on the run for 11 years, visited two state institutions on Monday, 8 June 2020. A Kompas investigation found that on that date, Joko and his lawyer visited the South Grogol subdistrict administration in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, to register and obtain for an electronic identity (e-ID) card.
From the subdistrict office, Joko and his lawyer headed to the South Jakarta District Court office on Jl. Ampera Raya to file the case review petition against the Supreme Court\'s ruling on the Bank Bali corruption case. The e-ID that Joko had just obtained was used to fulfill one of the requirements for filing the petition for case review.
Joko was not arrested at that time, because authorities were unaware of his appearance or did not recognize him. In actual fact, according to Sigit Riyanto, the dean of the Gadjah Mada University law school, all state institutions were under an obligation to report the presence of a convict or fugitive so they could be apprehended and sent to prison.
"[It’s] so ridiculous that the state is unable to catch a convict who is in Indonesian territory. The question is whether there is commitment among the state institutions to uphold the law and enforce [it]," said Sigit.
The question arose because, according to Sigit, law enforcement agencies such as the Attorney General\'s Office, the courts, the Immigration Directorate General, the Law and Human Rights Ministry, the National Police and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) had the resources, instruments and opportunities either to enforce the law or assist other institutions in enforcing the law.
Sigit said that the fugitive Joko Tjandra was a test for law enforcement officers and also the government in enforcing the law. Success in arresting Joko would not only prove the commitment of law enforcement officers and government officials, but also provide public security.
ID check
Regarding Joko Tjandra’s ID card, Population and Civil Registry director general Zudan Arif Fakrulloh at the Home Ministry said that the ministry needed time to check Joko’s old and new ID cards.
Zudan expressed uncertainty about the loopholes in the e-ID card issuing process that allowed Joko Tjandra’s presence in Jakarta to remain undetected. The data of Joko\'s old and new ID cards were needed to check this. "The Dukcapil [Population and Civil Registry] director general will first check the data," Zudan said.
Aside from obtaining an e-ID card on 8 June 2020, Attorney General S.T. Burhanuddin revealed that Joko obtained a new passport issued on 23 June 2020. "After making the ID card, he also applied for a passport [on] June 23, 2020," said Burhanuddin. Evidence pertaining to Joko\'s e-ID card and passport applications was now in the hands of the Attorney General.
Joko was implicated in a corruption case regarding Bank Bali\'s debt collection cession when he was the president director of PT Era Giat Prima. He was sentenced to two years in prison and fined Rp 15 million in accordance with a court ruling submitted by the state prosecutor. However, on 10 June 2009, one day before the Supreme Court issued its verdict, Joko fled to Papua New Guinea.
Joko resurfaced in Indonesia 11 years later, according to a statement the Attorney General issued on 29 June 2020 during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission III. According to Burhanuddin, Joko may have been in Indonesia for three months, but had not been monitored.
That day was to be the first hearing of Joko’s case review at the South Jakarta District Court, during which the AGO had planned to capture Joko. However, Joko did not attend the hearing due to illness, providing a letter from a clinic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Joko\'s absence at the first hearing prompted the court to adjourn it to the following Monday. However, Joko\'s lawyer Andi Putra Kusuma was likely to request that the hearing be postponed a second time because his client was still recovering. Asked about Joko\'s current whereabouts, Andi claimed that he hadn\'t received any information.
Joko\'s absence at the first hearing prompted the court to adjourn it to the following Monday.
The Attorney General stated that any hearing of a case review submitted by anyone, including Joko Tjandra, should not be held in absentia or vis video conferencing only (Kompas, 3/7/2020).
According to Andi, the ruling for a previous review in the Bank Bali case submitted by the state prosecutor was considered legally void because the case review violated Article 263, Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code Procedures (KUHAP).
Andi said that case review ruling No. 12/PIDSUS/2009, which was submitted by the state prosecutor, was legally void because it violated Article 263, Paragraph (1) of Law No. 8/1981 on the KUHAP. Earlier, the Constitutional Court issued decision No. 33/PUU-XIV/2016 to uphold Article, 263 Paragraph (1) of the KUHAP, following a petition for legal review that was submitted by Joko\'s wife Anna Boentaran.