Bribery Suspects to be Flown to Jakarta on friday Night: KPK

Jakarta - The three bribery case suspects, who were arrested in Semarang in central Java this morning, will be flown to Jakarta on Friday night after initial investigations conclude, KPK Deputy Chairman Bambang Widjojanto said. "The three of them will be brought here to the KPK office tonight," he said, adding that the arrests were only made because of the cooperation extended to KPK by the Supreme Court. KPK was given a 24-hour window in which to confirm whether the case would be handled by the commission or the Supreme Court. "The arrest was possible because of the cooperation between KPK and the Supreme Court, as we were tipped off by members of the public, KPK officials and the Semarang attorney¿s office," Widjojanto stated. Two of the three arrested bribery suspects have been identified as ad hoc judges serving in a corruption court, namely Kartika Marpaung and Heru Kusbandono, while the third accused has been identified as Sri Dartuti, a broker. Widjojanto elaborated that Dartuti allegedly bribed Kusbandono with US $15,000 or Rp150 million for a corruption case, which also names M. Yaeni, the non-active Central Java Legislative Council (DPRD) chief as a defendant. Kusbandono contacted Dartuti to decide on a meeting point and was later identified in the parking lot of Bank BCA in Semarang. Dartuti was seen handing over the money to Kusbandono, which was divided into three envelopes, he added. While Dartuti was arrested by the KPK team shortly after the transaction took place, Kusbandono was caught while she was on her way to the Semarang corruption court. On arriving at the parking lot of the corruption court, Kusbandono called Marpaung and asked to meet her. Shortly, Marpaung also reached the spot in a car, following which both were arrested. Marpaung was the first female ad hoc judge to serve in a corruption court and was selected in 2009, while Kusbandono was the third batch of the ad hoc judge and had been assigned to serve in Pontianak.(*)