March 18, 2024
JAKARTA – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named 15 employees at its detention centers as suspects for allegedly extorting detainees between 2019 and 2023, finalizing its fall from grace after a spate of scandals over the past year, including the removal of its head Firli Bahuri in November over extortion charges.
At a press briefing on Friday, KPK deputy chair Nurul Ghufron said the commission had launched a parallel investigation into dozens of detention center employees over alleged corruption.
The probe was opened after the KPK Supervisory Council found 78 detention center workers guilty of disciplinary code violations for collecting illicit fees from detainees in exchange for illegal services, such as smuggling cash or communication devices into their cells.
The council ordered the 78 prison employees to deliver a public apology en masse in front of the commission’s leadership last month and recommended the KPK secretariat-general to launch a follow-up investigation into the incident.
The antigraft body’s law enforcement unit has also opened a separate criminal investigation, aiming to prosecute the employees on corruption charges.
“The law enforcement deputy has named 15 individuals as suspects for allegedly pressuring [detainees] to provide [kickbacks],” Nurul said.
Among the suspects are Achmad Fauzi, the KPK detention center head; Hengki, a Law and Human Rights Ministry employee seconded to the KPK; Deden Rochendi, a National Police personnel seconded as the acting KPK detention center head; and Muhammad Ridwan, a KPK employee.
The 15 suspects are in custody at the Jakarta Police jail, where KPK investigators have detained them for a minimum of 20 days. They have also been temporarily removed from their posts while the investigation continues.
The KPK secretariat-general has formed a separate team consisting of its leadership as well as officials from its inspectorate general and legal and human resources bureau to look into possible violations of the commission’s disciplinary code committed by the disgraced employees.
“The inspection team has questioned eight employees at detention centers as witnesses […] and summoned the suspected employees” for questioning, KPK secretary-general Cahya Harefa said on Friday, adding that the probe would last until next week.
Prison perks
The alleged extortion started in 2019, when Hengki, Deden, Ridwan and other employees agreed to put Ridwan in charge of distributing the illicit money they received from detainees, through an inmate selected to act as a point person to collect the money.
“Hengki and the other employees provided exclusive facilities for detainees, including services to use mobile phones and power banks,” KPK investigation director Asep Guntur Rahayu said on Friday.
The facilities they offered included a reduced period of solitary confinement upon entry to KPK detention centers and information on scheduled inspections, so inmates could hide contraband such as mobile phones and cigarettes.
The money collected from each detainee varied between Rp 300,000 (US$19.17) and Rp 20 million, with between Rp 500,000 and Rp 10 million distributed each month per detention center employee, depending on their position.
“[If] detainees are late [with their payment], the employees would treat them badly, including locking them up in their cells, cutting their exercising quota or adding extra toilet duties to their schedule,” Asep said.
He added that investigators had named only 15 out of 78 employees as suspects in the case for deliberately orchestrating the criminal activity.
All 15 suspects are charged with violating Article 12 (e) of the 2001 Corruption Law, which prohibits civil servants and state employees from receiving gratuities as a form of abuse of power. The article carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison and a Rp 1 billion fine.
The KPK is still investigating the flow of illicit money, estimating that the detention center workers had pocketed up to Rp 6.3 billion between 2019 and 2023.
The commission is planning to meet with the law ministry’s Correctional Facilities Directorate General to discuss efforts to improve management of KPK detention centers to prevent similar illicit activities by prison staff.