JAKARTA: Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency has barred two key members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) from leaving the country as part of its probe into bribes given for a House of Representatives seat.
The travel ban against PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto and central committee member Yasonna Laoly applies for six months, a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman said on Wednesday (Dec 25).
Hasto was named a suspect on Monday in the bribery of former General Elections Commission commissioner Wahyu Setiawan from 2017 to 2022, reported news portal Jakarta Globe. Yasonna was questioned as a witness last week.
Hasto allegedly helped former PDI-P member Harun Masiku secure a seat in the House of Representatives that was vacated after its lawmaker-elect died in March 2019.
Hasto, Harun and two co-conspirators are accused of bribing Wahyu and a former official of the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) with S$19,000 and US$38,350 between Dec 16 and 23, 2019, KPK chair Setyo Budiyanto said at a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (Dec 24).
According to former KPK investigator Ronald Paul Sinyal, a substantial portion of that money allegedly came from Hasto, news outlet Tempo reported.
After the investigation began, “Hasto instructed Harun to dump his phone in water and flee immediately”, Setyo added at the press conference. Harun has been on the run since January 2020 and is listed by the authorities as a fugitive.
Hasto, 58, was first questioned as a witness in Harun’s corruption case in June this year, when KPK was gathering evidence on individuals suspected of helping Harun evade the law.
Wahyu, the election official, was convicted of corruption and sentenced to six years’ jail in August 2020.
Yasonna, meanwhile, was questioned as a witness last week by the KPK regarding Harun’s movements, local media reported.
As the country’s Law and Human Rights Minister from 2019 to August 2024, Yasonna, 71, managed the immigration office, which oversaw records of Harun’s travel history.
“POLITICAL TERROR” AIMED AT HASTO, SAYS PDI-P
The PDI-P – the country’s largest party in parliament and the only major party that has not joined President Prabowo Subianto’s Advance Indonesia Coalition or KIM Plus – claimed the timing of the probe on its secretary-general is politically motivated.
Party member Ronny Talapessy called it a form of “political terror” aimed at Hasto, who was a staunch critic of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the February presidential election.
Among other things, Hasto criticised a Constitutional Court ruling that allowed Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to run for vice-president, pairing with Prabowo.
