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House exonerates disgraced former speaker following Constitutional Court ruling

Jakarta Globe - September 29, 2016

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Jakarta – The House of Representatives' ethics council has revoked a verdict which found former speaker Setya Novanto – now Golkar chairman – guilty for violating the legislative body's ethical codes by attempting to extort $4 billion in shares from mining company Freeport Indonesia, after the Constitutional Court ruled that secret audio recordings used as evidence in the case were inadmissible by law.

A member of the ethics council, Syarifuddin Sudding of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), said the verdict was officially revoked on Tuesday (27/09).

The Constitutional Court had approved a judicial review – filed by Setya – on Law No. 11/2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions. The court ruled that secret recordings not conducted by law enforcers or ordered by the court are unlawful and cannot be used as evidence in a criminal case.

"According to the Constitutional Court ruling, these recordings should not have been used as evidence in the case," Sudding said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Setya stepped down as House speaker on Dec. 15 after the ethics council found him guilty of misusing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's and Vice President Jusuf Kalla's names to demand bribes from Freeport Indonesia.

Former energy minister Sudirman Said had leaked audio recordings made in secret by Freeport Indonesia chief executive Maroef Sjamsoeddin during a meeting with Setya and oil tycoon Riza Chalid in Jakarta in June 2015.

The tapes revealed that the politician and the oil tycoon claimed they could help with the US miner's contract renegotiation with the government in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the company.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/house-exonerates-disgraced-former-speaker-following-constitutional-court-ruling/.