Setya Novanto to Remain Under Police Guard in Hospital for Now
Jakarta. House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto will be under police guard while receiving treatment in hospital for injuries he reportedly sustained in a car accident and will be taken into custody once he has made a sufficient recovery, a spokesman for the national antigraft agency said on Friday (17/11).
The accident late on Thursday, which appears to have occurred during an attempt to avoid arrest, apparently resulted in Setya suffering a head injury and losing consciousness.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) earlier declared the Golkar Party chairman a suspect in the case involving massive graft in the procurement of electronic national identity cards, or e-KTP.
Setya's whereabouts were unknown when antigraft investigators arrived with a warrant for his arrest at his home in South Jakarta on Wednesday night.
This prompted officials to call on Setya to turn himself in, but after receiving reports of Thursday's crash, they asked police to place him on a wanted list.
The KPK proceeded on Friday by issuing a warrant for his detention, KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said.
He added that investigators have presented a range of documents for Setya's detention to his legal representative, Fredrich Yunadi, at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta but that the lawyer refused to sign all.
"They never arrested and questioned him before, so they are not allowed to detain him whatsoever," Fredrich said, separately. "Besides that, this is in hospital and he's ill."
Setya was transferred from Medika Permata Hijau Hospital in South Jakarta to Cipto Mangunkusomo Hospital early on Friday afternoon for a computed tomography scan.
"He regained consciousness but now his health is deteriorating, with injuries to parts of his body," Fredrich said.
KPK spokesman Febri said investigators decided to postpone Setya's detention for an initial 20 days until he is deemed fit for questioning.
"Throughout the postponement of his detention, he will be treated in hospital while guarded by KPK investigators, supported by police," Febri told reporters at the agency's offices in South Jakarta.
He said KPK investigators are coordinating with police to look into Thursday's incident, in which Setya's car reportedly slammed into an electricity pole. No other vehicles were involved in the accident and the car was only slightly damaged on the front.
Setya, citing a range of reasons, including health concerns, has skipped most KPK questioning sessions as both a suspect and a witness in the case.
He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Setya also failed to show up for questioning on Wednesday, despite appearing at a House plenary meeting earlier in the day.
He was named a suspect for a second time last week in the case involving graft in the Rp 5.9 trillion ($436 million) procurement project, which resulted in Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses.
He is accused of allegedly receiving Rp 574 billion from the project and could face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.
Setya was first named a suspect in the case in July but managed to have all charges against him cleared two months later after filing a pretrial motion in the South Jakarta District Court.
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