Jakarta. Two high ranking police officers are slated to stand trial today for allegedly taking bribe from Djoko Tjandra in return for removing the businessman from the Interpol wanted list.

Djoko was a graft fugitive when he returned to the country earlier this year to request a review against his conviction, renew his ID card and obtain an Indonesian passport despite attempts by prosecutors to arrest him since 2009.

He was eventually arrested in Kuala Lumpur on July 30 following public uproar over his immunity during his return under the nose of law enforcement officials.

It was later found that his return and travel were facilitated by several high-ranking police officers, immigration officials and a female prosecutor, allowing him to get all the documents he wanted and travel freely between cities.

The two officers, Insp. General Napoleon Bonaparte and Brig. General Prasetijo Utomo, are accused of removing Djoko from the Interpol red notice that enabled him to pass the immigration checks upon arrival without suspicion.

Prasetijo also helped him produce a coronavirus free certificate so that Djoko could travel by plane during his stay in the country between May and June, according to police investigation.
Napoleon was a senior staff at the Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Jakarta when Djoko was removed from the wanted list in 2014. He last served as the head of the National Police’s International Relations and Transnational Crimes Division that oversees the NCB before being stripped of his duties during investigation into the scandal.

Police believe that Napoleon is responsible for clearing Djoko from the global alert system, paving way for the convict to get through the immigration checks when entering Indonesia.

Prasetijo was the first to be implicated with the scandal after it emerged that he provided documents that allowed Djoko to travel between cities in June despite an arrest warrant issued by prosecutors 11 years ago.

Both men will be tried by the Central Jakarta District Court, presided over by Judge Muhammad Damis who is also the head of the district court, court spokesman Bambang Nurcahyono said.

The same court will also try businessman Andi Irfan Jaya, who is accused of channeling the bribe money from Djoko to Prosecutor Pinangki Sirna Malasari.

The prosecutor allegedly has received $500,000 for helping Djoko obtain a Supreme Court edict stating that the convict should not serve his two years’ imprisonment. She is being tried separately by the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court.

The trial against Andi will commence on Wednesday.

Djoko was convicted of corruption in 2009 and sentenced to two years in prison in a case emanating from the debt settlement between Bank Bali and the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA). 

He first stood trial in 2000 and won the case at the district court and the appeal court. However, the Supreme Court overturned his acquittal in 2009 after a case review requested by prosecutors.

Djoko has already left the country when the ruling was delivered in June 2009.