Travel Ban on House Speaker Extended for Six Months Amid Graft Probe
Jakarta. A travel ban on House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto, recently acquitted of corruption charges, has been extended for another six months, anti-graft and immigration officials said on Tuesday (03/10).
Novanto's suspect status in a graft case related to the Rp 5.9 trillion ($439 million) procurement of national electronic identity cards, or e-KTP, was dropped in a pretrial verdict on Friday.
But anti-graft officials have said they are seeking a new investigation into Setya, who was named a suspect in July in the case that caused the state to lose Rp 2.3 trillion.
Setya has been prevented from traveling abroad for six months beginning in April. On Monday, anti-graft officials requested that the Immigration Office extend that travel ban until April next year.
"The request letter was already sent yesterday," Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner Basaria Panjaitan told reporters in Jakarta.
The Immigration Office's spokesman, Agung Sampurno, confirmed that the request was filed.
"Yesterday there was a letter signed by the KPK chairman, stating a travel ban on S.N.," Agung said, referring to Setya.
Setya, was accused of receiving about Rp 574 billion from the government's procurement of e-KTP cards that began in 2011. He could have faced up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.
The House speaker, who has denied any wrongdoing, filed a pretrial motion with the court last month. On Friday, a sole judge declared the naming of Novanto as a graft suspect procedurally flawed.
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