A Warning to The KPK

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Supreme Court legal and public relations bureau head Abdullah gives a statement to the press on Tuesday (9/7/2019) in Jakarta after reading out the court’s decision to acquit Syafruddin Arsyad Temenggung of corruption. Syafruddin, the former chairman of the now defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), appealed to the court over his graft conviction and 15-year sentence in connection with the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) case.

The brilliant history of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in eradicating corruption has been tarnished. For the first time, the Supreme Court (MA) has acquitted a defendant in a corruption case that the KPK had brought to justice.

In its appellate ruling on Tuesday, the Supreme Court acquitted the former head of the now defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), Syafruddin Arsyad Temenggung. The court’s ruling was vastly different from the Jakarta Corruption Court\'s decision, which found Temenggung guilty and sentenced him to 13 years in prison, as well as the Jakarta High Court’s ruling, which upheld this verdict and to increased the sentence to 15 years.