KPK to decide Jero’s fate after Idul Fitri

JAKARTA. Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Abraham Samad said on Thursday that the antigraft body would hold a case expose after the Idul Fitri holiday to determine the role of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik in a number of graft case plaguing his ministry.

“After Idul Fitri we will hold a case expose [on Jero],” Abraham said on Thursday, referring to the phase of investigation during which KPK leaders and investigators hold a meeting to confirm evidence on the involvement of an individual in a graft case.

As of Thursday, the KPK was investigating four graft cases at the ministry that could implicate Jero, who is also a senior Democratic Party politician, given his role as the highest authority at the ministry.

Recently, the KPK launched a fresh investigation into alleged corruption plaguing a number of state projects worth billions of rupiah at Jero’s office. No suspects have been named in the case so far, but the KPK has already questioned Jero and his wife Triesna Wacik, as well as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s political communication advisor, Daniel Sparingga.

The other three graft cases are the alleged rigging of a number of state projects at the ministry, which implicated the ministry’s former secretary-general Waryono Karno; allegations of bribery implicating former Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) head Rudi Rubiandini; and an alleged payoff from the ministry to House of Representatives Commission VII, which implicated former Commission VII chairman and Democratic Party politician Sutan Bathoegana.