I know that in this case, the investigation was done with utmost care because there is the risk of accusations of politicization
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD vouched to consistently follow up with the case of alleged corruption involving Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate.

He also called on people to wait for the legal proceedings of the case.

"Hence, place trust in the legal proceedings of the case that Mr Plate is facing and wait for it. As the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, I will always follow up with it," he noted in a post on his official Instagram handle, @mohmahfudmd, as quoted here on Thursday.

Mahfud MD also stated on his social media account that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) exercises utmost care in handling the case involving Communication and Informatics Ministry's Telecommunication and Informatics Accessibility Agency (BAKTI Kominfo).

"I know that in this case, the investigation was done with utmost care because there is risk of accusations of politicization," he noted.

He was confident that the AGO has two solid pieces of evidence that led to their decision to name Plate as a suspect.

The AGO would be violating the law if it were to name suspects at a much later time despite already having two key pieces of evidence in their hands, he stated.

During the National Information Disclosure Day observed in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Wednesday, May 17, the minister also spoke of the AGO's initiative in thoroughly pursuing the issue by repeatedly going through the BAKTI Kominfo case before naming Minister Plate as a suspect.

He pointed out that it took a long time since the investigators had to meticulously go through all aspects in order to prevent the case from drawing accusations of being politically charged.

"Actually, this has been pending for one or two weeks because it was being investigated, so there would be no mistakes, and it would not turn into a political issue," he explained.

On Wednesday, investigators for general criminal affairs at the AGO named Plate as a suspect in the case of alleged corruption in the base transceiver station project pursued by BAKTI Kominfo during the 2020-2022 period.

Head of the Legal Information Center at the AGO Ketut Sumedana noted that the state had incurred losses to the tune of Rp 8.32 trillion (US$559 million) on account of the corruption.

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Translator: Genta Tenri M, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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