•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

The Corruption Eradication Commission is forming a special team to look at the possibility of investigating bribery allegations against businessman Anggodo Widjojo, brother of fugitive graft suspect Anggoro Widjojo, the commission’s spokesman said on Wednesday.

“When we meet again with the National Police, we will already have a team of investigators to examine all the evidence in the case,” Johan Budi said, days after the National Police admitted that despite having questioned a host of witnesses, they had failed to gather sufficient evidence to charge Anggodo with bribery.

“The [commission] team will work closely with the team set up by the National Police and we will try to separate what falls under our jurisdiction and what falls under the police’s jurisdiction,” he said.

Johan’s statement came a day after the National Police’s deputy chief of detectives, Insp. Gen. Dikdik Mulyana Arif Mansur, met with Ade Rahardja, the deputy for corruption investigations and prosecution at the commission, also known as the KPK, and requested a joint operation to investigate Anggodo.

The businessman has been the subject of intense public scrutiny since his telephone conversations with various people, including police officers and prosecutors, were secretly taped by the KPK and played by the Constitutional Court at a hearing on Nov. 3.

The conversations pointed to an alleged plot to fabricate charges against KPK deputy chairmen Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah. The two have since been suspended from their positions and may yet face charges of extortion and abuse of power.

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday pointed to Anggodo as the person suspected of fabricating the case against the deputies.

The court made its position clear while issuing a ruling that annulled an article in the law relating to the KPK, one that governs the automatic dismissal of KPK commissioners once they become defendants in court.

Bonaran Situmeang, who represents Anggodo, said on Wednesday that any investigation into his client, or indeed “anybody linked to the extortion scandal” involving the two antigraft deputies, must be dropped, considering that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono believes the cases against the deputies should not be taken to court.

“We have sent a letter to President Yudhoyono saying that if his advice is for the case to be dropped, then all aspects of it should be dropped. All of it, everybody involved, and not just parts of the case,” Bonaran said during a news conference in Central Jakarta.

“All are equal before the law. If the case is dropped against Chandra and Bibit, then the case against my client must also be dropped,” he said.

Bonaran was referring to Yudhoyono’s recent statement that indicated that the police and prosecutors should consider the option of not trying the cases against Bibit and Chandra.

Bonaran also said he was concerned over the impartiality of the KPK in any investigation into bribery allegations against Anggodo.

“Until today, the police do not have sufficient evidence to charge my client,” he said. “We believe, however, that the KPK is out for vengeance and that police investigations into bribery allegations against my client should not be transferred to them.”

Bonaran, however, said his client would appear for questioning if summoned by the commission.

“We’re not afraid because there is not sufficient evidence against my client.